refute

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See also: réfuté, réfute, and refuté

English

WOTD – 24 November 2007

Etymology

From Latin refūtō (“refute, repudiate”).

Pronunciation

Verb

refute (third-person singular simple present refutes, present participle refuting, simple past and past participle refuted)

  1. (transitive) To prove (something) to be false or incorrect.
    • 1791, James Boswell, The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.‎:
      After we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it, "I refute it thus."
  2. (transitive, proscribed) To deny the truth or correctness of (something).

Usage notes

  • The second meaning of refute (“to deny the truth of”) is proscribed as erroneous by some (compare Merriam Webster,1994). An alternative term with such a meaning is repudiate, which means to reject or refuse to acknowledge, but without the implication of justification. However, this distinction does not exist in the original Latin refūtō (“oppose, resist, rebut”), which can apply to both senses.
  • Refute is also often confused with rebut; a rebuttal, in formal debate terms, is a counter-refutation, and it also has a specific legal sense, though like refutation, the word has taken on the informal and disputed meaning of denial.

Conjugation

Conjugation of refute
infinitive (to) refute
present tense past tense
1st-person singular refute refuted
2nd-person singular refute, refutest† refuted, refutedst†
3rd-person singular refutes, refuteth† refuted
plural refute
subjunctive refute refuted
imperative refute —
participles refuting refuted

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Anagrams

Galician

Verb

refute

  1. inflection of refutar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French refuite, from refuir (“to flee”). Compare refuge.

Pronunciation

Noun

refute (uncountable)

  1. refuge (state of protection or comfort)
  2. refuge (place of protection or comfort)
  3. A protector or comforter.

References

Portuguese

Verb

refute

  1. inflection of refutar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

refute

  1. inflection of refutar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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