allude. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

allude

SYLLABICATION:	al·lude
PRONUNCIATION:	-ld
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: al·lud·ed, al·lud·ing, al·ludes To make an indirect reference: The candidate alluded to the recent war by saying, “We've all made sacrifices.”
ETYMOLOGY:	Latin alldere, to play with : ad-, ad- + ldere, to play (from ldus, game; see leid- in Appendix I).
USAGE NOTE:	Allude and allusion are often used where the more general terms refer and reference would be preferable. Allude and allusion normally apply to indirect references in which the source is not specifically identified: “Well, we'll always have Paris,” he told the travel agent, in an allusion to Casablanca. Refer and reference, unless qualified, usually imply specific mention of a source: I will refer to Hamlet for my conclusion: As Polonius says, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.” See Usage Note at refer.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.