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Origin and history of refutation

refutation(n.)

1540s, refutacion, "act of disproving; overthrowing of an argument" (by countervailing argument or proof), from French réfutation (16c.) and directly from Latin refutationem (nominative refutatio) "disproof of a claim or argument," noun of action from past-participle stem of refutare "drive back; rebut, disprove" (see refute).

also from 1540s

Entries linking to refutation

refute(v.)

1510s, "refuse, reject" someone or something, a sense now obsolete, from French réfuter (16c.) and directly from Latin refutare "to drive back; rebut, disprove; to repress, repel, resist, oppose," from re- "back" (see re-) + *futare "to beat" (from PIE root *bhau- "to strike").

The meaning "prove (someone) wrong, prove (someone) to be in error, disprove and overthrow by argument or countervailing proof" is from 1540s; of statements, opinions, etc., by 1590s. Many have frowned on the subtle shift in meaning towards "to deny," which occurred as the word came to be used in connection with allegation. Related: Refuted; refuting.

For people who still use the word in its older sense it is rather shocking to hear on the B.B.C., which has a reputation for political impartiality, a news-report that Politician A has refuted the arguments of Politician B. [Charles L. Barber, "Linguistic Change in Present-day English," 1964]
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    ad hominem
    that it is sometimes necessary to refute the disputant rather than his position, and some medieval logicians taught that refutation...was of two kinds, solutio recta and solutio ad hominem, the latter being imperfect or fallacious refutation....
    apagoge
    "demonstration of a proposition by the refutation of its opposite, indirect proof, reductio ad absurdum," from Greek apagogē...
    conviction
    ., "the proving or finding of guilt of an offense charged," from Late Latin convictionem (nominative convictio) "proof, refutation...
    dialectic
    dialatik (late 14c.), "critical examination of the truth of an opinion, formal reason and logic applied to rhetoric and refutation...
    determination
    mid-14c., determinacioun, "decision, sentence in a suit at law, definite or authoritative judicial settlement," from Old French déterminacion "determination, settlement, definition" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin determinationem (nominative determinatio) "conclusion, bou
    finding
    c. 1300, "act of discovering" (by chance or after searching; also an instance of this); verbal noun from find (v.). From c. 1400 as "what the mind discovers; knowledge attained by human effort" (as distinct from revelation or authority). Late 14c. as "act of sustaining, supportin
    evidence
    c. 1300, "appearance from which inferences may be drawn," from Old French evidence, from Late Latin evidentia "proof," in classical Latin "distinction, vivid presentation, clearness" in rhetoric, from stem of Latin evidens "obvious, apparent" (see evident). Meaning "ground for be
    answer
    Middle English answere, from Old English andswaru "a response, a reply to a question," from and- "against" (from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before") + -swaru "affirmation," from swerian "to swear" (see swear). The proposed etymology s
    confutation
    "act of disproving or proving to be false," mid-15c., from Latin confutationem (nominative confutatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of confutare "repress, check; disprove, restrain, silence," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see con-),

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