refutation

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

An act of refuting or disproving; the disproving of an argument, opinion, testimony, doctrine or theory by argument or countervailing proof; evidence of falseness.
A vocal answer to an attack on one's assertions.

Pronunciation

rĕf′yo͝o-tā′shən /ˌɹɛf.jʊˈteɪ.ʃən/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-refutation.wav /ˌɹef.jʊˈtæɪ.ʃən/ /ˌɹɛf.jʉˈte.ʃən/ /ˌɾef.juˈʈeː.ʃon/

Word forms

refutation refutations

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French refutation (compare French réfutation, Spanish refutación, Portuguese refutação, Italian refutazione) or its etymon Latin refūtātiō, from refūtō + -ātiō. By surface analysis, refute + -ation. First attested in 1536 (in sense 1).

Synonyms

refutal confutation disproof disconfirmation contradiction gainsaying rebuttal[refute counterargument counterassertion counterclaim denial

Related words

refudiate repudiation

Derived words

nonrefutation refutational refutationism refutationist self-refutation

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

Back to search All on R Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary