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/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˌɾef.juˈʈeː.ʃon/
• 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, rebuttal

   Near-synonym: rebuttal (see note)

   • 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.

3. (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: refūtātiō 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
• West Frisian: wjerlizzing (fy) c

See also

• repudiation