verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ɹɪˈdɑːɡjuː/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ɹəˈdɑɹɡju/
1
verb
Meaning 1
To disprove or refute (someone) in an argument.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Qualifier: obsolete except in Scots law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: counterargue
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To rebut or refute (an argument, a proposition, etc.).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Qualifier: obsolete except in Scots law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
Often followed by for or of: to censure, to rebuke, to reprove (someone or something).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To argue (a case, proposition, etc.) against someone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, rare, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To present a disproof or refutation of an argument, a person, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Late Middle English redarguen, redargue (“to defeat (someone) in an argument; to rebuke, reprove”), from Middle French redarguer and Old French redargüer (“to disprove, refute; to accuse, blame; to rebuke, reprove”) (modern French rédarguer), and from their etymon Latin redarguere (“to disprove, refute”) (compare Late Latin redarguere (“to rebuke, reprove”)), the present active infinitive of redarguō (“to disprove, refute; to contradict”), from red- (a variant of re- (prefix meaning ‘again’)) + arguō (“to assert, declare; to clarify, make plain; to prove, show; to accuse, charge with; to censure, rebuke, reprove; to blame; to denounce as false”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h2erǵ- (“argent, white; glittering”), in the sense of casting light on something to make it clear). Doublet of argue. Cognates * Catalan redargüir * Italian redarguire * Old Occitan redarguir * Portuguese redargüir * Spanish redargüir