Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AC-CUSE', v.t. [s as z; L. accuso, to blame, or accuse; ad and causor, to blame, or accuse; causa, blame, suit, or process, cause; Fr. accuser; Sp. acusar; Port. accusar; It. accusare; Arm. accusi. The sense is, to attack, to drive against, to charge or to fall upon. See Cause.]

1. To charge with, or declare to have committed a crime, either by plaint, or complaint, information, indictment, or impeachment; to charge with an offense against the laws, judicially or by a public process; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor.
2. To charge with a fault; to blame. Their thoughts, in the meanwhile, accusing or else excusing one another. – Rom. ii. It is followed by of before the subject of accusation; the use of for after this verb is illegitimate.