disprove

English

Etymology

From Middle English disproven, dispreven, from Old French desprover, from des- + prover, equivalent to dis- +‎ prove.

Pronunciation

enPR: dĭs-pro͞ovʹ

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈpɹuːv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈpɹuv/

  • Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈpɹʉːv/

  • Audio (Brisbane):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -uːv

Verb

disprove (third-person singular simple present disproves, present participle disproving, simple past disproved, past participle disproved or disproven)

1. (transitive) To prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; to refute.

   disprove a theory

   disprove a hypothesis

   • 2017 May 15, David Wright, “Kobach: ‘Election integrity’ panel ‘not set up to prove or to disprove’ Trump”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     “The commission is not set up to disprove or to prove President Trump’s claim, nor is it just looking at the 2016 election. We’re looking at all forms of election irregularities, voter fraud, voter registration fraud, voter intimidation, suppression, and looking at the vulnerabilities of the various elections we have in each of the 50 states,” Kobach told “New Day” co-host Chris Cuomo.

   • 2022 April 29, Rusty Hills, “Opinion: When will the GOP learn from Trump’s mistakes?”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     While the incumbent Democrats in Michigan are vulnerable, the Trump-endorsed candidates have built their campaigns around the disproved claims of a rigged 2020 election – an issue that may not have much traction among swing voters.

   • 2023 August 22, Daniel Dale, “Fact check: Audio debunks Vivek Ramaswamy’s false claim that he was misquoted about 9/11”, in CNN‎^[3]:

     Newly released audio disproves Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s claim on CNN that he was misquoted by The Atlantic about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

   • 2024 January 12, Jacopo Prisco, “Are fingerprints unique? Not really, AI-based study finds”, in CNN‎^[4]:

     As it worked, the AI-based system found that fingerprints from different fingers of the same person shared strong similarities and was therefore able to tell when the fingerprints belonged to the same individual and when they didn’t, with an accuracy for a single pair peaking at 77% — seemingly disproving that each fingerprint is “unique.”

Usage notes

• The past participle disproven is often proscribed in favor of disproved.

Antonyms

• prove

Derived terms

• disprovability
• disprovable
• disproval
• disprovement
• disprover
• undisprovable
• undisproved

Translations

to refute

• Arabic: دَحَضَ (ar) (daḥaḍa)
• Belarusian: абвярга́ць impf (abvjarhácʹ), абве́ргнуць pf (abvjérhnucʹ)
• Bulgarian: опровергавам (bg) (oprovergavam), оборвам (bg) (oborvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 駁斥 / 驳斥 (zh) (bóchì)

• Czech: vyvrátit (cs)
• Dutch: weerleggen (nl), ontkrachten (nl)
• Finnish: osoittaa vääräksi; kumota (fi)
• French: réfuter (fr), infirmer (fr)
• German: widerlegen (de)
• Greek: ανταποδεικνύω (el) (antapodeiknýo)
• Hungarian: megcáfol (hu)
• Italian: confutare (it)
• Japanese: 反駁する (ja) (はんばくする, hanbaku suru)
• Latin: refellō (la), redarguō
• Old English: unsōþian
• Portuguese: desmentir (pt), refutar (pt)
• Russian: опроверга́ть (ru) impf (oprovergátʹ), опрове́ргнуть (ru) pf (oprovérgnutʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: opovrgnuti (sh)
• Spanish: refutar (es), rebatir (es), desmentir (es), desdecir (es)
• Swedish: motbevisa (sv), vederlägga (sv)
• Tagalog: pabulaanan
• Ukrainian: спросто́вувати impf (sprostóvuvaty), спростува́ти pf (sprostuváty)
• Welsh: gwrthbrofi (cy)

Anagrams

• provides