Repelled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Forced or pushed back from a position or place ; experienced a strong feeling of dislike or aversion towards something
2. Was prevented from advancing or approaching ; reacted with repugnance or refusal to accept
3. Kept away or rejected by resistance or force ; showed a powerful sense of disgust or avoidance

Etymology: "Repelled" is simply the past tense and past participle of "repel," so its story is the story of that verb. "Repel" came into Middle English from Old French, which had taken it from Latin "repellere," meaning "to drive back." The Latin word is built from "re-," meaning "back," and "pellere," meaning "to drive," so the original picture is of something being struck or shoved backwards. The verb has a curious relative in "repeal," which descends from the same Latin root by a different route. Both words passed through French and were absorbed into English at different times, so they ended up as doublets: two forms of one ancestor that now mean quite different things. "Repel" kept the sense of forceful pushing back, while "repeal" came to mean withdrawing or annulling a law.

Synonyms: driven away, repulsed, excluded

Antonyms: attracted, welcomed, invited