rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryRoot: re-
Old French

re-

back or again

Forms

  • re-
  • r- — A shortened form found before a vowel in some French words.

Origin

Old French continued Latin re-, “back, again.”

Note

Returning and repeating are related ideas, but neither meaning is obvious in every inherited word.

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At a simple discussion table, a young man counters a young woman's claim by pointing out contradictory evidence in two photographs of the same damaged bicycle wheel, while she listens and examines the evidence.
verb

rebut

rih-BUT/rɪˈbʌt/

Counter a claim or argument with evidence or reasoning.

Etymology
reOld Frenchback or again
+butOld Frenchto strike, push

The original image is pushing or thrusting back, once used of repelling an attack. In argument, the thing pushed back is a claim, countered with evidence or reasoning.

Full entry

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