refutation

See also: réfutation

English

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).

Pronunciation

• enPR: rĕf′yo͝o-tā′shən
• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛf.jʊˈteɪ.ʃən/

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌɹef.jʊˈtæɪ.ʃən/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛf.jʉˈte.ʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Hyphenation: ref‧u‧ta‧tion

Noun

refutation (countable and uncountable, plural refutations)

2. 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, disconfirmation, contradiction, gainsaying

   Near-synonyms: rebuttal (see note), counterargument, counterassertion, counterclaim, denial

   • 1913, William Horton Foster, “Refutation”, in Debating for Boys‎^[1], 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.

   • 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 423:

     The conclusion to which we shall be led by a full consideration of these facts will be that the effective refutation of such errors will frequently require further intellectual advance, and often advance on points which are very abstract and may seem very remote from the practical issues.

3. (proscribed) A vocal answer to an attack on one's assertions.

Usage notes

• See refute.

Derived terms

• nonrefutation
• refutational
• refutationism
• refutationist
• 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
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: wjerlizzing c

• German: Widerlegung (de) f, Gegenschrift (de) f (in writing)
• Greek: ανασκευή (el) f (anaskeví), αναίρεση (el) f (anaíresi)

  Ancient Greek: ἔλεγχος m (élenkhos)

• Hindi: खंडन (hi) m (khaṇḍan)
• 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: refūtātiō f
• Portuguese: refutação (pt) f
• Russian: опроверже́ние (ru) n (oproveržénije), рефута́ция (ru) f (refutácija) (obsolete, literary)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Latin: refutacija (sh) f, pobijanje (sh) n, opovrgavanje n

• Spanish: refutación (es) f
• Swedish: vederläggning (sv), motargument (sv), motbevis
• Tagalog: pabulaan

See also

• refudiate (nonstandard)
• repudiation