English → Latin
“confute” in Latin
refellōto disprove, rebut, confute, refute, challenge, contradictredarguōto disprove, refute, confute, contradictconvincōto convince; to conquer, establish; to convict, find guiltyrevincōto conquer, subdue; to convict; to refute, disprovecōnfūtōto suppress, restrain, check; to repress, diminish, impede, destroy; to refute, confute, disproverefūtōto check, repress; to restrain, oppose; to refutedīluōto wash away; to drench or moisten; to purge, clear or empty (the bowels)dissolvōto unloose, disunite, separate, dissolve, destroy; to pay, discharge (a debt etc.); to abolish, abrogate, annulerrorwandering, straying, going astray; wavering, uncertainty; error, mistake, faultcrīmena judicial decision, verdict, or judgment; an object of reproach, invective; a crime, fault, offense
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
confute
refellere (to show by argument, that what has been said, is false; to confute anybody’s opinion or anything): redarguere (to convince of falsehood, of persons and things). (the words are found in this connexion and order.) refellere et redarguere: convincere (either to convince a person of his error, or establish the falsehood of anything triumphantly; e.g., errores): revincere (to prove the contrary of an assertion by an irresistible argument; of persons and things; compare Liv., 6, 26, 7: crimina, revicta rebus, verbis confutare nihil attinet): confutare (to make anything fall to the ground, a person or anything; e.g., argumenta Stoicorum, the refutans acts on the defensive in refuting the arguments brought against him; the confutans on the offensive, in exposing their worthlessness and cutting them up): refutare (Vid: confutare: not to admit, to push back, repulse, as it were = refute; often with the addition of oratione, a person or thing; e.g., the contrary, contraria: to refute anything more by deeds than by words, aliquid magis re, quam verbis): diluere (to weaken the force, or to show the invalidity of anything; e.g., of an accusation, crimen: the arguments or proofs of the opposite party, confirmationem adversariorum): (the words are found in this connexion and order.) refutare ac diluere, or diluere ac refellere: diluere aliquid et falsum esse docere (to make anything fall to the ground and show that it is false): dissolvere (to dissolve or annihilate by proofs and explication; e.g., a sophism, mentientem: an accusation before the judge or in the court, criminationem): to confute anything by evidence, aliquid testimoniis refutare: he has confuted himself, suo sibi argumento confutatus est: to confute anybody by his own words, suo sibi gladio aliquem jugulare (proverbially in Ter., Ad., 5, 8, 34): to endeavour to confute anybody with weak proofs, plumbeo gladio aliquem jugulare (Cic., Att., 1, 16, 2).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for confute?
- The usual Latin words for “confute” are refellō, redarguō, convincō; also revincō, cōnfūtō, refūtō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.