irrefutable

See also: irréfutable

English

WOTD – 26 July 2010

Etymology

From Late Latin irrefūtābilis, from ir- (not) +‎ refūtābilis (refutable), from refūtō (to refute) +‎ -bilis (-able), equivalent to ir- +‎ refutable.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌɪɹɪˈfjuːtəbəl/, /ˌɪɹəˈfjuːtəbəl/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Audio (General Australian):(file)
  • (rare) IPA(key): /ɪˈɹɛf(j)ətəbəl/, /ɪˈɹɛfjuːtəbəl/[1]

Adjective

irrefutable (comparative more irrefutable, superlative most irrefutable)

  1. undeniable; unable to be disproved or refuted
    Antonym: refutable
    • 1653, Henry More, An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: [] Roger Daniel, [], →OCLC:
      [] clear and irrefutable evidence of the Cause I have undertaken
    • 1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun: Or, The Romance of Monte Beni. [], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
      True, there had been nothing, in his lifetime, viler than this man. She knew it, there was no other fact within her consciousness that she felt to be so certain; and yet, because her persecutor found himself safe and irrefutable in death, he frowned upon his victim, and threw back the blame on her!
    • 1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, Sybil; or The Two Nations. [], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, [], →OCLC:
      He had formed his mind by Helvetius, whose system he deemed irrefutable, and in whom alone he had faith.
    • 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC:
      I have listened also to the remarks of counsel, with high interest—and especially will I commend the masterly and irrefutable logic of the distinguished gentleman who represents the plaintiff. But gentlemen, let us beware how we allow mere human testimony, human ingenuity in argument and human ideas of equity, to influence us at a moment so solemn as this.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ Jespersen, Otto (1909), A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎[1], volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 5.66, page 170:ir)refutable generally /riˈfjuˑtəbl/, rarely [ˈrefutəbl].

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin irrefūtābilis, from in- (not) + refūtābilis (refutable).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /irefuˈtable/ [i.re.fuˈt̪a.β̞le]
  • Rhymes: -able
  • Syllabification: i‧rre‧fu‧ta‧ble

Adjective

irrefutable m or f (masculine and feminine plural irrefutables)

  1. irrefutable

Derived terms

Further reading