elenchus

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔλεγχος (élenkhos, “refutation, scrutiny, control”). Doublet of elench.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈlɛŋ.kəs/

Noun

elenchus (plural elenchi)

1. (rhetoric) A technique of argument associated with Socrates wherein the arguer asks the interlocutor to agree with a series of premises and conclusions, ending with the arguer's intended point.
   • 1991, Thomas c. Brickhouse; Nicholas D. Smith, “Socrates’ Elenctic Mission”, in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, volume IX, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 131–132:

     The elenchus begins when an interlocutor makes some moral claim that Socrates wishes to examine. The argument then proceeds from premisses that express certain of the interlocutor’s other beliefs to a conclusion that contradicts the original moral claim under scrutiny.

Synonyms

• Socratic method

Related terms

• elenctic

Further reading

• “elenchus”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “elenchus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔλεγχος (élenkhos, “refutation, scrutiny”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʰ- (“to accuse, to scold”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eˈlen.kʰus/, [ɛˈɫ̪ɛŋkʰʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈlen.kus/, [eˈlɛŋkus]

Noun

elenchus m (genitive elenchī); second declension

1. costly trinket (especially an earring)
2. refutation
3. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) list
   • Elenchus tamen Sanctorum necnon Beatorum in Martyrologio ― The list however of Saints and Blesseds in the Martyrology

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	elenchus	elenchī
Genitive	elenchī	elenchōrum
Dative	elenchō	elenchīs
Accusative	elenchum	elenchōs
Ablative	elenchō	elenchīs
Vocative	elenche	elenchī

Descendants

• Catalan: elenc
• Italian: elenco
• Portuguese: elenco
• Romanian: elencos, elenchus
• Spanish: elenco

References

• “elenchus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “elenchus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• elenchus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• elenchus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “elenchus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• elenchus in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “elenchus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin