Unconstituted on Red

Dubious diurnal etymology #3

A fresh chat up line everydayish.



refute

1513, "refuse, reject," from L. refutare "drive back, repress, repel, rebut," from re- "back" + -futare "to beat," probably from PIE base *bhat- "to strike down" (cf. beat). Meaning "prove wrong" dates from 1545. Since c.1964 linguists have frowned on the subtle shift in meaning towards "to deny," as it is used in connection with allegation.

posted by Khalid Smythe @ 2:13 PM