different between fact vs refute

English

Etymology

From Latin factum (“a deed, act, exploit; in Medieval Latin also state, condition, circumstance”), neuter of factus (“done or made”), perfect passive participle of faci? (“do, make”). Doublet of feat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

fact (countable and uncountable, plural facts)

1. Something actual as opposed to invented.
2. Something which is real.

   Gravity is a fact, not a theory.

3. Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.

4. An objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed upon by a substantial number of experts.

5. Information about a particular subject, especially actual conditions and/or circumstances.

6. (databases) An individual value or measurement at the lowest level of granularity in a data warehouse.
7. (archaic) Action; the realm of action.
8. (law, obsolete except in set phrases) A wrongful or criminal deed.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.ix:

     She was empassiond at that piteous act, / With zelous enuy of Greekes cruell fact, / Against that nation [...].

9. (obsolete) A feat or meritorious deed.

Antonyms

• (Something actual): fiction

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• value
• opinion
• belief

References

• fact at OneLook Dictionary Search
• fact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• fact in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "Conway: 'Alternative Facts'" Merriam-Webster's Trend Watch Merriam-Webster. 2017.

Interjection

fact

1. Used before making a statement to introduce it as a trustworthy one.

Anagrams

• acft

English

Etymology

From Latin ref?t?

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US): enPR: r?-fyo?ot, IPA^(key): /???fju?t/, /???fjut/
• Hyphenation: re?fute
• Rhymes: -u?t

Verb

refute (third-person singular simple present refutes, present participle refuting, simple past and past participle refuted)

1. (transitive) To prove (something) to be false or incorrect.
2. (transitive, proscribed) To deny the truth or correctness of (something).

Usage notes

• The second meaning of refute (“to deny the truth of”) is proscribed as erroneous by some (compare Merriam Webster,1994). An alternative term with such a meaning is repudiate, which means to reject or refuse to acknowledge, but without the implication of justification. However, this distinction does not exist in the original Latin ref?t? (“oppose, resist, rebut”), which can apply to both senses.
• Refute is also often confused with rebut; a rebuttal, in formal debate terms, is a counter-refutation, and it also has a specific legal sense, though like refutation, the word has taken on the informal and disputed meaning of denial.

Synonyms

• (prove (something) to be false): debunk, disprove, rebut
• (deny the truth or correctness): deny, gainsay, rebut, reject, repudiate

Antonyms

• (prove (something) to be false): demonstrate, prove
• (deny the truth or correctness): accept, embrace

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Fuerte, feuter, feutre

Portuguese

Verb

refute

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of refutar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of refutar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of refutar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of refutar

Spanish

Verb

refute

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of refutar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of refutar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of refutar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of refutar.