refute

See also: réfuté, réfute, and refuté

English edit

WOTD – 24 November 2007

Etymology edit

From Latin refūtō (“refute, repudiate”).

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation, US): enPR: rə-fyo͞ot, IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈfjuːt/, /ɹəˈfjut/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Hyphenation: re‧fute
Rhymes: -uːt

Verb edit

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 edit

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 edit

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	refuted

subjunctive	refute	refuted

imperative	refute	—

participles	refuting	refuted

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms edit

(prove (something) to be false): debunk, disprove, rebut
(deny the truth or correctness): deny, gainsay, rebut, reject, repudiate

Antonyms edit

(prove (something) to be false): demonstrate, prove
(deny the truth or correctness): accept, embrace

Derived terms edit

self-refute

Related terms edit

Translations edit

to prove (something) to be false or incorrect

Arabic: دَحَضَ (ar) (daḥaḍa), أَدْحَضَ (ʔadḥaḍa), فَنَّدَ (fannada)
Armenian: հերքել (hy) (herkʿel)
Azerbaijani: təkzib etmək
Bulgarian: опровергавам (bg) (oprovergavam)
Catalan: refutar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 反駁／反驳 (zh) (fǎnbó)
Czech: vyvrátit (cs)
Dutch: weerleggen (nl), refuteren
Esperanto: refuti
Finnish: osoittaa vääräksi
French: réfuter (fr)
German: widerlegen (de), entkräften (de)
Greek: αντικρούω (el) (antikroúo), ανασκευάζω (el) (anaskevázo)
Ancient: εὐθύνω (euthúnō)
Hebrew: הִפְרִיךְ (he) (hifrikh)
Hindi: दूषण (hi) (dūṣaṇ)
Hungarian: cáfol (hu)
Italian: smentire (it)
Japanese: 言い返す (ja) (iikaesu), 反駁する (ja) (hambaku suru)
Latin: refellō (la), refūtō, redarguō
Malayalam: ദൂഷണം (ml) (dūṣaṇaṁ), നിരാകരിക്കൽ (nirākarikkal)
Norwegian: motbevise
Portuguese: refutar (pt), desmentir (pt)
Romanian: refuta (ro)
Russian: опроверга́ть (ru) impf (oprovergátʹ), опрове́ргнуть (ru) pf (oprovérgnutʹ)
Sanskrit: दूषण (sa) m (dūṣaṇa)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: оповрга́вати pf, опо̀вргнути impf

Roman: opovrgávati (sh) pf, opòvrgnuti (sh) impf
Slovene: ovreči
Spanish: refutar (es), rebatir (es), negar la mayor
Swedish: motbevisa (sv), vederlägga (sv)
Turkish: aksini ispatlamak (tr), delilleri çürütmek (tr), yanlışlığını kanıtlamak (tr)
Vietnamese: bác bỏ (vi)

to deny the truth or correctness of (something)

Arabic: كَذَّبَ (ar) (kaḏḏaba)
Armenian: հերքել (hy) (herkʿel)
Bulgarian: отхвърлям (bg) (othvǎrljam)
Czech: zavrhnout (cs)
Dutch: weigeren (nl)
Esperanto: nei
Finnish: kiistää (fi), kieltää (fi)
French: rejeter (fr), contester (fr), chicaner (fr), récuser (fr)
German: anfechten (de), widersprechen (de)
Greek: διαψεύδω (el) (diapsévdo)
Hungarian: tagad (hu)
Italian: smentire (it)
Japanese: 言い返す (ja) (iikaesu), 反駁する (ja) (hambaku suru), 反証する (ja) (hanshō suru)
Maori: whākorekore, whawhati
Ngazidja Comorian: ukadhibisha
Portuguese: negar (pt)
Russian: отрица́ть (ru) impf (otricátʹ)
Spanish: negar (es) rehusar (es), rechazar (es)
Turkish: karşı çıkmak (tr), reddetmek (tr)

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