refuto Latin · revision 32421

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [rɛˈfuː.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [reˈfuː.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''refūtō''' (present infinitive refūtāre, perfect active refūtāvī, supine refūtātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|re-|-fūtō|t1=back]], with the element found also in [[m|la|cōnfūtō|t=to check, silence]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) The origin of -fūtō is uncertain: de Vaan finds the comparison with [[ang|bēatan|t=to strike]] attractive, but Germanic points to a different final consonant, and he considers a substrate root meaning "to strike".^(de Vaan 2008) The TLL refers it to a root *bʰeut- "to strike", perhaps also in [[m|la|fūstis|t=club]].^(TLL) Festus derived it from [[m|la|for|alt=fārī|t=to speak]], with ⟨a⟩ turned into ⟨u⟩.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL finds it first in the orator Crassus; de Vaan's first author is Lucretius.^(TLL)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It first means to check or drive back: Cicero says that Roman generals thought those nations should rather be checked by war than provoked.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From this comes the sense of refuting a statement or an opponent, as when Cicero says that Brutus was refuted by jokes no less than by tragic speeches.^(OLD 2012) The TLL counts it 27 times in Cicero and 15 in Quintilian, but only once or twice in other authors before Suetonius, and rarely in verse.^(TLL) Church Latin glosses it resist, oppose, refute, repress.^(Stelten 1995) It survives in [[it|rifiutare|t=to refuse]] and other Italian and Rhaeto-Romance dialects.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of checking nations by war and of refuting an opponent.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it often.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1510s – English [[m|en|refute]] is borrowed from Latin, partly through French, first meaning to refuse or reject.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|check]], drive back, [[m|en|repress]], restrain.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|refute]], disprove a statement or an opponent.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[irrefutatus]]

+ * [[refutabilis]]

+ * [[refūtātiō]]

+ * [[refutator]]

+ * [[refutatorius]]

+ * [[refūtātus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[confuto|alt=cōnfūtō]]

+ * [[en|refute]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein groups it with [[confuto|alt=cōnfūtō]] and [[refello|alt=refellō]]: refūtō and cōnfūtō mean refuting in any way, refellō by convincing arguments; the one who refūtat defends himself against arguments, the one who cōnfūtat attacks them and shows they are worthless.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}