The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refer \Re*fer"\ (r[-e]*f[~e]r"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Referred
   (r[-e]*f[~e]rd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Referring.] [F.
   r['e]f['e]rer, L. referre; pref. re- re- + ferre to bear. See
   Bear to carry.]
   1. To carry or send back. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence: To send or direct away; to send or direct
      elsewhere, as for treatment, aid, information, decision,
      etc.; to make over, or pass over, to another; as, to refer
      a student to an author; to refer a beggar to an officer;
      to refer a bill to a committee; a court refers a matter of
      fact to a commissioner for investigation, or refers a
      question of law to a superior tribunal.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to
      assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason,
      or ground of explanation; as, he referred the phenomena to
      electrical disturbances.
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   To refer one's self, to have recourse; to betake one's
      self; to make application; to appeal. [Obs.]
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            I'll refer me to all things sense.    --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refer \Re*fer"\, v. i.
   1. To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's
      self; as, to refer to a dictionary.
      [1913 Webster]

            In suits . . . it is to refer to some friend of
            trust.                                --Bacon.
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   2. To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as,
      the figure refers to a footnote.
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            Of those places that refer to the shutting and
            opening the abyss, I take notice of that in Job.
                                                  --Bp. Burnet.
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   3. To carry the mind or thought; to direct attention; as, the
      preacher referred to the late election.
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   4. To direct inquiry for information or a guarantee of any
      kind, as in respect to one's integrity, capacity,
      pecuniary ability, and the like; as, I referred to his
      employer for the truth of his story.
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   Syn: To allude; advert; suggest; appeal.

   Usage: Refer, Allude, Advert. We refer to a thing by
          specifically and distinctly introducing it into our
          discourse. We allude to it by introducing it
          indirectly or indefinitely, as by something
          collaterally allied to it. We advert to it by turning
          off somewhat abruptly to consider it more at large.
          Thus, Macaulay refers to the early condition of
          England at the opening of his history; he alludes to
          these statements from time to time; and adverts, in
          the progress of his work, to various circumstances of
          peculiar interest, on which for a time he dwells. "But
          to do good is . . . that that Solomon chiefly refers
          to in the text." --Sharp. "This, I doubt not, was that
          artificial structure here alluded to." --T. Burnet.
          [1913 Webster]

                Now to the universal whole advert:
                The earth regard as of that whole a part.
                                                  --Blackmore.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

refer
    v 1: make reference to; "His name was mentioned in connection
         with the invention" [syn: mention, advert, bring up,
         cite, name, refer]
    2: be relevant to; "There were lots of questions referring to
       her talk"; "My remark pertained to your earlier comments"
       [syn: refer, pertain, relate, concern, come to,
       bear on, touch, touch on, have-to doe with]
    3: think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or
       with a general group or in relation to another; "This plant
       can be referred to a known species"
    4: send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision;
       "refer a patient to a specialist"; "refer a bill to a
       committee"
    5: seek information from; "You should consult the dictionary";
       "refer to your notes" [syn: consult, refer, look up]
    6: have as a meaning; "`multi-' denotes `many' " [syn: denote,
       refer]
    7: use a name to designate; "Christians refer to the mother of
       Jesus as the Virgin Mary"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

203 Moby Thesaurus words for "refer":
   account for, accredit, accredit with, accrete to, acknowledge,
   address to, advert, advert to, advise, advise with, affect, allude,
   allude to, answer to, appeal to, appertain to, apply, apply to,
   argue, ascribe to, ask, assign, assign to, attach to, attribute,
   attribute to, bargain, be construed as, be taken as, bear on,
   bear upon, belong to, bespeak, betoken, blame, blame for, blame on,
   blurt, blurt out, breathe, bring home to, bring into play,
   bring to attention, bring to notice, bring up, call attention to,
   call in, charge, charge on, charge to, check, cite, collogue,
   comment, commit, commune, compare notes, concern, confer,
   confer with, confess, connect, connect with, connote, consult,
   consult with, convert to use, correspond to, counsel, credit,
   credit with, cross-refer, cross-reference, deal with, deliberate,
   denominate, denote, designate, direct, direct attention to,
   direct to, discuss, discuss with, emblematize, enlist into service,
   exchange observations, exchange views, exclaim, fall back upon,
   fasten upon, father upon, figure, finger, fix on, fix upon,
   focus on, glance, go, hand in, hand over, hang on,
   have connection with, have conversations, have recourse to,
   hold conference, imply, import, impress, impute, impute to,
   indicate, inquire of, insert, instance, interest, interject,
   interpolate, introduce, invoke, involve, lay, lay to, let drop,
   let fall, liaise with, link with, look at, look to,
   make a cross-reference, make reference to, mean, mention, muse,
   name, negotiate, note, observe, opine, palaver, parley, pass on,
   pass over, pertain to, pick out, pin on, pinpoint, place upon,
   point at, point out, point to, powwow, put heads together,
   put in requisition, quote, reason with, recur, recur to, refer to,
   reference, reflect, regard, relate to, remark, repair, resort to,
   respect, revert to, run, saddle on, saddle with, say, select, send,
   set down to, settle upon, signify, sit down together,
   sit down with, speak, specify, spell, stand for, stigmatize, study,
   suggest, symbol, symbolize, take counsel, take note of, take to,
   take up with, talk over, talk to, tie in with, touch, touch on,
   touch upon, treat of, turn, turn to, turn to use, typify, use