Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rebut” come from?

Rebut comes from Old French reboter, meaning to push back or reject.

rebut (English): To drive back or beat back; to repulse; To deny...

Definitions

  1. To drive back or beat back; to repulse; To deny...

Ancestry of “rebut”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchreboterto push back
2Old Frenchre-re-
3Latinrĕ-—
4Latinprōdūcō—
5Latinprō-—
6Proto-Italic*pro-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
9Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “rebut”

  • rebuttal
  • rebuttable
  • irrebuttable
  • rebutter
  • rebuttably
  • surrebutter
  • unrebuttable
  • counterrebuttal
  • surrebut
  • unrebuttably
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →