Link Centre Dictionary

refutation

re·fu·ta·tion

UK/ˌɹɛf.jʉˈte.ʃən/ US/ˌɹɛf.jʊˈteɪ.ʃən/ uncommon

noun

1.

the speech act of answering an attack on your assertions

  • “his refutation of the charges was short and persuasive”
  • “in defense he said the other man started it”
2.

any evidence that helps to establish the falsity of something

3.

the act of determining that something is false

Origin

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).

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.