réfutation

Forms

réfutation f (plural réfutations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin refūtātiō (“refutation”), a term of Latin rhetoric used by Cicero and Quintilian.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun is from the supine of refūtō (“to drive back, disprove”), the source of réfuter.^[6][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a legal deed of 18 January 1284, meaning a refusal to claim, the giving up of one's rights.^[2][8][6]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare until the end of the 15th century, when, after the verb réfuter, it came to mean the act of disproving and the arguments that disprove a thesis (1495, Molinet).^[8][2] In the old rhetoric it named the part of a speech answering objections (1521, Fabri).^[2][8] In 1835 the Académie recorded the figurative sense of something that silently contradicts a claim, such as a person's conduct.^[2][6]

English refutation (1540s) is from the French word and directly from Latin.^[7]

Timeline

• 1284 – First record, in a legal deed, as “renunciation of a right”.^[2]
• 1495 – Molinet uses it for the act of refuting.^[2][6]
• 1521 – Fabri's rhetoric uses it for the answering of objections.^[2]
• 1540s – English refutacion appears.^[7]
• 1829 – The derivative réfutatif is first recorded.^[2]
• 1835 – The Académie records the figurative sense.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of refuting, or the reasoning that refutes: a refutation or rebuttal, as in la réfutation d'une hypothèse.^[4][9][1]
2. (figurative, literary) Something that contradicts a claim without words.^[4][6]
3. (rhetoric) The part of a speech that answers the objections raised or foreseen.^[4][6]

Word family

• réfutatif

Related words

• réfuter
• irréfutable
• Latin refūtō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)