rĕfūto — Lewis & Short
rĕfūto, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a.root fu-; Gr. xu-, xevw, xeu=ma; cf.: fundo, futtilis,
Georg Curtius Gr. Etym. p. 204 sq.,
I to check, drive back, repress.
I Lit.:
semper illas nationes nostri imperatores refutandas potius bello quam lacessandas putaverunt,Cic. Prov. Cons. 13, 32.—
II Trop., to repel, repress, resist, restrain, oppose (freq. and class.; syn.: reicio, reprimo).
A In gen.:
virtutem aspernari ac refutare,Cic. Rab. Post. 16, 44:
refutetur ac reiciatur ille clamor,id. Tusc. 2, 33, 55:
alicujus cupiditatem,id. Fam. 1, 9, 25: vitam, to contemn, Sall. Fragm. ap. Serv. ad Verg. G. 4, 218 (H. 1, 73 Dietsch); cf.:
temporis munera,Quint. 10, 6, 6:
alicujus libidinem,Cic. de Or. 3, 1, 4:
nummum,Sol. 22 med.:
ad mortem si te (Fors dicta refutet!) Prodiderim,may fate avert, Verg. A. 12, 41.—
B In partic., to repel, rebut any thing by speech, etc.; to confute, refute, disprove (syn.:
refello, redarguo): res refutat id,Lucr. 2, 245; 2, 867:
nemo te ita refutandum ut gravem adversarium arbitrabatur,Cic. Vatin. 1, 1:
testes,id. Font. 1, 1:
nostra confirmare argumentis ac rationibus, deinde contraria refutare,id. de Or. 2, 19, 80; so (opp. confirmare) Quint. 5, prooem. § 2;:
neque refutanda tantum, sed contemnenda, elevanda, ridenda sunt,id. 6, 4, 10:
perjuria testimoniis,Cic. Font. 16, 35:
oratio re multo magis quam verbis refutata,id. Imp. Pomp. 17, 52:
infamiam pudicitiae posterae vitae castitate,Suet. Aug. 71:
quos tum, ut pueri, refutare domesticis testibus solebamus,Cic. de Or. 2, 1, 2:
a te refutentur,id. Fam. 9, 11, 2:
tribunos oratione feroci,Liv. 2, 52 fin.— Poet., with object-clause:
si quis corpus sentire refutat,denies, Lucr. 3, 350.