elenchus
Americannoun
noun
-
refutation of an argument by proving the contrary of its conclusion, esp syllogistically
-
the drawing out of the consequences of a position in order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of elenchus
1655–65; < Latin < Greek élenchos refutation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The elenchus comes soon or late, but it always comes.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, April 25, 1917 by Various
It is the leaven working in the Sophists with their subtle rhetoric, in Socrates with his negating elenchus, in Plato with his confounding dialectic.
From Homer's Odyssey A Commentary by Snider, Denton Jaques
It would therefore be an ignoratio elenchi to allow oneself to be disposed of in such a manner.
From The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; the Art of Controversy by Saunders, T. Bailey (Thomas Bailey)
The Asparas are pleased with Bombax malabaricum, and the Gandharvas with Jasminum, the Terminalia chebula increases the number of servants, and the Mimusops elenchi gives maid-servants.
From Cultus Arborum Phallic Tree Worship by Anonymous
To prove this is an ignoratio elenchi; what the Sophist undertakes to prove is that Achilles will never overtake it, and he really proves that Achilles passes it between the 111th and 112th yards.
From Logic, Inductive and Deductive by Minto, William
Mr. Mill concludes this chapter with another instance of that ignoratio elenchi which has been so abundantly manifested throughout his previous criticisms.
From The Philosophy of the Conditioned by Mansel, Henry Longueville
Throw the ignoratio elenchi in his teeth, and, at once, you have him annihilated.
From The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 4 by Poe, Edgar Allan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
