Refute Law Define

Tips: Refute comes from the Latin word refutare, «to repel» or «to refute». Remember to reduce or refute someone`s point of view or argument. The essential meaning is that of a dispute or opposition to a claim. The phrase «refuting allegations» is often heard in legal discussions. For example, DNA evidence can refute blaming the wrong person. Journalists seeking truth and legitimacy should probably avoid «disproving» unless there is compelling evidence that something was inaccurate. Words like «deny» and «challenge» are harder to «refute.» The witnesses appointed by Professor Ford did not «refute» his assertion. They said they didn`t remember. The evidence clearly refutes the allegations made against my client. Garner`s Modern English Usage also holds the line, unsurprisingly, since Bryan A. Garner is an attorney and editor of Black`s Law Dictionary and Garner`s Dictionary of Legal Usage, among other law-related books. It lists the abuse of «refute» to «refute» and vice versa at level 1 of the five-level linguistic change index, which corresponds to exclusion from a parliamentary body.

The president`s office has denied allegations that he is involved in an ongoing corruption scandal. I have definitely lost that debate; He refuted each of my points with contradictory statements. (denied, contradicted, disputed) We wrote eight years ago about confusing «refute» and «refute» in the context of «refute,» which, despite being a word of the year for 2010, «remains generally unacceptable in formal writing,» as dictionary.com says in his entry for the word that it is not real. This may be an opportune time to realize that «refute,» as abused by Kavanaugh, does not mean «refute» or «argue,» as many people seem to think. The witness refuted his earlier testimony by contradicting himself repeatedly. (denied, refuted) Among the «some» is the Associated Press, whose style book says: «To refute is to argue the opposite: he refuted his opponent`s statement. Refuting means succeeding in argumentation and almost always involves editorial judgment. Instead, use Refuse, Refute, Refute, or Respond. The New York Times Manual of Style of Usage also preserves the distinction. The entry «refute, refute» reads: «To refute, a neutral word, means to respond and challenge.

Refuting goes further and often goes beyond what a writer intends to do: it means refute, and successfully. If this is not the intention, refute, refuse, reject or disagree. In fact, as a CNN article put it, Ford`s girlfriend, quoted by Kavanuagh, «does not refute the accuracy of the allegation, although she does not recall the alleged incident,» her lawyer told the committee. So CNN was right, even if the judge didn`t. He rejected the lawsuit`s allegations and found them inconsistent with the original contract. (disputed, contested) Lawyers will try to rebut the evidence against the accused. (refute, argue, challenge) The confusion between «refute» and «refute» is more than a century old, as we have written, and although the difference is significant, the needle begins to move. Merriam-Webster`s second definition of «refute» is «the truth or correctness of the denial,» and his definition of «refute» includes «the lie of: refute.» He treats both words as synonyms. Webster`s New World College Dictionary, favored by many news outlets, also comes close: it defines «to refute» as «to disagree, to refute, or to disagree, especially formally by arguments, evidence, etc.,» and its «disproved» definition includes «the truth or validity of: use disputed by some.» The word you want most of the time is «rebuttal,» denial accompanied by arguments or the presentation of less than definitive evidence. If someone claims that the sun rises in the west, they would «refute» this claim by simply pointing it to the east at dawn.

But if someone claims that the Beatles were the greatest rock band the world has ever seen, that`s not a provable fact, so any argument to the contrary is a «rebuttal.» Dr. Ford`s claim is not only unconfirmed, it is refuted by the very people she believes were there, including one of her longtime friends. Refuted. (Emphasis added.) Our predecessor, Evan Jenkins, wrote even earlier about «refute» and «refute,» in a column that strangely reflects the current circumstances: An athlete has been charged with sexual assault and one headline read, «No charges at this time, as teammate refutes woman`s complaint.» As Jenkins noted, «`to refute` is to conclusively refute.» In that case, there was «no conclusion as to the veracity of the charges.» Between «refute» and «refute» in the dictionary is the word «doubtful». It is a «Janus word» that can have opposite meanings depending on the context.