‖ elenchus
(ɪˈlɛŋkəs)
pl. elenchi.
[L. elench-us, a. Gr. ἔλεγχος cross-examination. (Sense 3 appears to be only Lat.; perh. another word.]
1. a. Logic. = elench 1. b. Socratic elenchus: the method pursued by Socrates of eliciting truth by means of short question and answer.
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 1258, I shall bring you, with your pack Of fallacies, t' Elenchi back. 1721–1800 in Bailey. 1850 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. (ed. 2) 116 My [Socrates'] elenchus is nothing better in itself than the logic..of any other professor. 1860 Abp. Thomson Laws Th. §127. 271 Admitting the apparent correctness of the opposing argument, we may prove the contradictory of its conclusion by an unassailable argument of our own, which is then called an Elenchus (ἔλεγχος). 1874 Mahaffy Soc. Life Greece xi. 340 Such people..cared little about even the Socratic elenchus. 1878 Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 713 No dull elenchus makes a yoke for her. |
2. = elench 2. Obs.
| 1721–1800 in Bailey. |
† 3. Antiq. (See quot.)
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Elenchus in antiquity, a kind of ear-ring set with pearls. In mod. Dicts. |