refute
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
Etymology
From Latin refūtō (“refute, repudiate”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: rə-fyo͞ot, IPA(key): /ɹɪˈfjuːt/, /ɹəˈfjut/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file) - Hyphenation: re‧fute
- Rhymes: -uːt
Verb
refute (third-person singular simple present refutes, present participle refuting, simple past and past participle refuted)
- (transitive) To prove (something) to be false or incorrect.
- 1791, James Boswell, The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.[1]:
- 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."
- (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 |
Synonyms
- (prove (something) to be false): debunk, disprove, rebut
- (deny the truth or correctness): deny, gainsay, rebut, reject, repudiate
Antonyms
- (prove (something) to be false): demonstrate, prove
- (deny the truth or correctness): accept, embrace
Derived terms
Related terms
- refudiate (nonstandard)
- refusal
- refuse
- refutability
- refutable
- refutably
- refutal
- refutation
- refuted
- refuter
Translations
to prove (something) to be false or incorrect
|
to deny the truth or correctness of (something)
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Anagrams
Galician
Verb
refute
- inflection of refutar:
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French refuite, from refuir (“to flee”). Compare refuge.
Pronunciation
Noun
refute (uncountable)
- refuge (state of protection or comfort)
- refuge (place of protection or comfort)
- A protector or comforter.
References
- “refūt(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Portuguese
Verb
refute
- inflection of refutar:
Spanish
Verb
refute
- inflection of refutar:
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/uːt
- Rhymes:English/uːt/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English proscribed terms
- Galician non-lemma forms
- Galician verb forms
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English uncountable nouns
- enm:Diplomacy
- enm:Law
- enm:People
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
- Portuguese verb forms
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms