prooftext

English

Etymology

From proof +‎ text.

Noun

prooftext (plural prooftexts)

1. A decontextualized quotation from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority.

Verb

prooftext (third-person singular simple present prooftexts, present participle prooftexting, simple past and past participle prooftexted)

1. To use decontextualized quotations from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority.

References

• Prooftext, Prooftexting, in Definition of Christian Terms