The act of proving someone or something wrong by argument; a refutation or successful disproof.
From Latin confutatio, derived from confutare (con- + futare, to strike down). The word entered English via Norman French, maintaining the sense of beating down an argument or opponent.
In Renaissance debate, a formal confutation was a major intellectual event—philosophers would publish detailed confutations of each other's work, sometimes writing entire books refuting a single opponent's ideas, treating disagreement as a serious scholarly calling.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.