▪ I. † refute, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 4 refuit, 4–6 refuyt(e, (5 reffuyt), 4–6 refut(e.
[a. OF. refuite, f. refuir, f. re- re- + fuir to flee: cf. refuge n.]
1. = refuge n. 1.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter xxx[i]. 3 Be to me in-to God defendour, & in-to þe hous of refut, þat þou mak me sauf. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3840 Thou shalt be bounde, And fast loken in a tour, Withoute refuyt or socour. c 1420 in Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 16696 The grete Reffuyt and Reffuge that thow dost to alle synful men. 1494 Fabyan Chron. Prol. 3, I nyll presume wythout other refute, To ioyne suche a worke. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 275 Justice and law..to execute To puir and riche, without ony refute. |
2. = refuge n. 2.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter xxx[i]. 4 For þou art my strengþe and my refut. 1382 Wyclif Ps. lxxxix. [xc.] 1 Lord, refut thou art maad to vs. c 1450 Merlin 622 A kynge that ought to be refute and counfort to alle the hoste. 1509 Hawes Conv. Swearers 13 Yet I to you am chefe refuyte and boote. |
3. = refuge n. 3.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 965 (1014) Allas þat he..Shuld haue his refuyt in so digne a place. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 279 To be a refute of gilty men fleenge to hit. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5541 At tynemouth' his refuyt he make, To kepe him fra skathe. |
▪ II. † refute, n.2 Obs.
[f. the vb.]
Refutation.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 312 We finde no concurrent determination of ages past, and a positive and undeniable refute of these present. 1657 J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't 1 Schism Dispatcht,..containing..a refute of D{supr}. Hammonds Defence of his first three Chapters. |
▪ III. refute, v.
(rɪˈfjuːt)
[ad. L. refūtāre to repel, repress, rebut: see re- and confute v. Cf. F. réfu-er (c 1549 in Godef.).]
† 1. trans. To refuse, reject (a thing or person). Obs. rare.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 1535 Her royall dyademe and shynynge coronall Was fyrst refuted for loue of our sauyoure. |
2. To prove (a person) to be in error, to confute.
| 1545 Joye Exp. Dan. Argt. 5 b, Which reiecteth and refuteth the iewes and vs castinge away god and his gospel as thei did. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. iii. (1599) 116 He refuted the Admirall, who..assayed to qualifie indirectly the wills of the councell. 1641 Hinde J. Bruen xxii. 68 Who might also have received their answer and beene evidently refuted to their faces, if they had but observed his ordinary practices. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. M.'s Wks. 1738 I. 544 That you, my Countrymen, refute this adversary of yours yourselves. 1768 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (ed. 5) I. p. xlix, In his second [book], wherein he refutes his brother Quintus. |
| refl. 1869 Daily News 14 Dec., But Mr. M. is good enough, for all practical purposes, to refute himself. |
3. To disprove, overthrow by argument, prove to be false: a. a statement, opinion, etc.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxx. §7 It is some greife to spende thus much labour in refuting a thing that hath so little grounde to vpholde it. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 39 An errour so gross and palpable, that it needs not the Microscope to refute it. 1710 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Bp. Burnet 20 July, They bring them a thousand fallacious arguments, which their excessive ignorance hinders them from refuting. 1780 Cowper Table-t. 104, I grant the sarcasm is too severe, And we can readily refute it here. 1838 Lytton Alice ii. vii, Unconsciously his whole practice began to refute his theories. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 194 They can refute any propostion whether true or false. |
b. an imputation, accusation, etc.
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xxiv. §231 Which imputation in sundry languages he refuted in Print. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 270 Well thy gen'rous tongue With decent pride refutes a public wrong. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 824 Let the arraigned Stand up unconscious, and refute the charge. 1838 Thirlwall Hist. Greece V. 375 The plan which he has suggested..is the surest way to refute such calumnies. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost x. 277 Would you not seek everywhere for proofs to refute the accusation? |
4. absol. To demonstrate error.
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. vii. 1343 Instead of racking fancy, to refute, Reform thy manners, and the truth enjoy. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 174 Those, whose only object is to cavil where they cannot refute. |
¶ 5. trans. Sometimes used erroneously to mean ‘deny, repudiate’.
| 1964 C. Barber Ling. Change Present-Day Eng. v. 118 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. 1978 Observer 7 May 4/9 Mr O'Brien, who was first elected general secretary three years ago, refutes the allegations. 1979 Daily Mail 17 Feb. 15/3 He refuted allegations that she took her own life because of police harassment. 1980 Bookseller 19 July 257/1, I refute Mr Bodey's allegation that it is our policy not to observe publication dates, and to display new titles in newsagents immediately on receipt from the publisher. |
Hence reˈfuted ppl. a., reˈfuting vbl. n.
| c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 239 In the refuting of which impure and unchaste proviso..I trust the reader will bear with me. 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 33 Such of their objections, that seeme worth the refuting. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. viii. 30 He often..seems to confirme the refuted accounts of Antiquity. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 550 His still refuted quirks he still repeats. 1818 in Lady Morgan Autobiog. 241 Commonplaces, repeated a hundred times over with a refuted tone. |