2. To assign or to attribute to; to mention: The writer referred to the history book to make his point.
3. To hand over, to submit, to deliver, or to transmit and pass along: Willie referred the supervisor's proposal to the board of directors for consideration.
James wants Greg to look at the headlines that refer to the deluge and devastation caused by the flood waters.
4. To turn, to go to, or to consult: Max was told to refer to the last page of the book for the answers to the quiz that he took to increase his vocabulary skills.Although "allude" and refer are synonyms, their connotations and proper applications are quite different.
To refer to someone or something is to mention directly with specific identification.
Allude means to mentioning something indirectly or briefly in passing, to hint at; for example: Sharon has alluded to her husband during conversations, but she has never given her friends any details about him.
Any time a student refers to a teacher as a pedagogue he or she is not suggesting that the teacher has feet which are a foot-and-a-half (sesquipedalian) long.
The Greek ped used in English is a shortened form of the Greek pais (paid-), which means a "child", usually a "boy" because, in old Grecian times, boys were considered "more important" than girls.
Actually, pedagogue means "a child's guide" or "guiding a child". In ancient Athens, the pedagogue was a slave who led his master's children (boys) to school or provided private tutoring. In the U.S., the equivalent of "guiding a child" is now "home schooling". In time, the word became known as a "teacher".
This Greek ped is used primarily in technical terms; such as pedagogics, which refers to the "science of teaching". There is more information about pedoagogue, pedagog on this page.
Another derivative from the Greek ped is a word meaning "education" or the results of "education"; such as, "knowledge" or "learning". The Greek element pedia is found in other Greek words; such as, cyclopedia and encyclopedia, "circles of knowledge".