refutatio

Forms

refūtātiō f (genitive refūtātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin refūtō (“to drive back, rebut”) + -tiō.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in the Topica for the refutation of an accusation, the rebuttal in which the defence first takes its stand.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged to rhetoric and prose; the TLL notes that it is absent from poetry.^[3] Quintilian treats refutatio as a part of the judicial speech, the counterpart of the proof: the one builds the case, the other pulls it down.^[3][2] Priscian equates it with Ancient Greek ἀνασκευή (anaskeuḗ), and Christian writers such as Augustine use it of their rebuttals of opponents.^[3]

In Late Latin law it also meant rejecting something as untrue or void, and in Justinian's Novels evading a tax, where the Greek has παραίτησις (paraítēsis).^[3] In Medieval Latin it meant a surrender of a claim and a receipt.^[4] English borrowed refutation in the 1540s, partly from French, partly directly from the Latin.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the Topica for the rebuttal of a charge.^[2][6]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian treats it as a part of the judicial speech.^[2][3][6]
• 321 – A law in the Theodosian Code uses it for rejecting a judge's report.^[3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of his replies to Julian.^[3][6]
• 1540s – English borrows it as refutation.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Refutation of a statement or charge;^[2][3][1] (rhetoric) the part of a speech that rebuts the opponent's case.^[2][3][1]
2. (Late Latin) Rejection of something as untrue or invalid; evasion of a tax.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) Surrender of a claim, renunciation.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) A receipt, quittance.^[4]

Related words

• English refutation

Usage notes

Niermeyer records a medieval spelling reflutatio.^[4] Donatus distinguishes refutatio, aimed at the matter, from confutatio, aimed at the person.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de