refutation

See also: réfutation

English

Etymology

By surface analysis, refute +‎ -ation. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

refutation (countable and uncountable, plural refutations)

1. An act of refuting or disproving; the disproving of an argument, opinion, testimony, doctrine or theory by argument or countervailing proof; evidence of falseness.

   Synonyms: refutal; confutation, disproof

   Near-synonym: rebuttal (see note)

   • 1913, William Horton Foster, “Refutation”, in Debating for Boys‎, page 78:

     Apply these tests to his arguments and you will render your task of refutation easier. But in your refutation, be sure you refute. Don’t think for a minute that either heat or violence or sarcasm is a good answer.
2. (proscribed) A vocal answer to an attack on one's assertions.

Usage notes

• See refute.

Derived terms

• self-refutation

Translations

an act of refuting

Bulgarian: отхвърляне (bg) n (othvǎrljane), опровергаване (bg) n (oprovergavane) Chinese: Mandarin: 反駁 / 反驳 (zh) (fǎnbó), 辯駁 / 辩驳 (zh) (biànbó), 駁議 / 驳议 (zh) (bóyì) Czech: vyvrácení n Danish: gendrivelse c, afkræftelse c Dutch: weerlegging (nl) f, refutatie (nl) f French: réfutation (fr) f German: Widerlegung (de) f, Gegenschrift (de) f (in writing) Greek: ανασκευή (el) f (anaskeví), αναίρεση (el) f (anaíresi) Ancient Greek: ἔλεγχος m (élenkhos) Irish: bréagnú m Italian: refutazione f, confutazione (it) f, contestazione (it) f Japanese: 反駁 (ja) (はんばく, hanbaku) Korean: 반박 (ko) (banbak) Latin: refutatio f Portuguese: refutação (pt) f Russian: опроверже́ние (ru) n (oproveržénije), рефута́ция (ru) f (refutácija) (obsolete, literary) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: refutacija (sh) f, pobijanje (sh) n, opovrgavanje n Spanish: refutación f Swedish: vederläggning (sv), motargument (sv), motbevis Tagalog: pabulaan

See also

• repudiation

 

References

• “refutation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.