Etymology: < Middle French ruse (French ruse ) detour or turn made by a hunted animal (12th cent. in Old French), trick, deceit, stratagem (c1280), probably < ruser , russer to recoil, retreat (see ruse v.¹). Compare ruse v.², rusing n., rusé adj.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman rëuser, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French ruser, russer (French ruser ) to push (a person or thing) back (first quarter of the 12th cent.), to drive (a person) back in battle (1139), to recoil, retreat (1155, also used reflexively), further origin uncertain and disputed (see below). Compare Old Occitan rahusar , rauzar , reuzar to push back (late 11th–early 12th cent.), to recoil, retreat (13th cent. in an isolated attestation), Franco-Provençal reusar to recoil, retreat (1180, used reflexively). Compare earlier rush v.², and see discussion at that entry. Compare ruse v.³, and also ruse n., ruse v.², rusé adj., rusing n.Various etymons of the French verb have been suggested; for a fuller discussion, see Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch at recūsare. The likeliest etymon is classical Latin recūsāre recuse v., although this presupposes that the originally Northern French form, which shows loss of intervocalic -c- , gradually spread southwards. An alternative derivation < an unattested post-classical Latin form *refusare (see refuse v.¹) is unlikely on phonological grounds.

Etymology: < ruse n. Compare Middle French, French ruser (1561), specific sense development of ruser to deceive (see rusé adj.). Compare ruse v.¹

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps a specific sense development of ruse v.¹ (compare ruse v.¹ b). Compare earlier rush v.²