refel

R1E1F4E1L1

verb

To refute, disprove (an argument); to confute (someone).

OriginLatin refellere →
Scrabble 8
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Meanings

verbrefel (third-person singular simple present refels, present participle refelling, simple past and past participle refelled)

present singular third person refels · participle present refelling · participle past refelled · past refelled · alternative refell

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo refute, disprove (an argument); to confute (someone).

    How I persuaded, how I pray'd, and kneel'd, How he refell'd me, and how I reply'd […]

    c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)
    1 more example

    Averroes scoffs at Galen for his reasons, and brings five arguments to refel them: so doth Hercules de Saxonia […]

    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 3, member III

Origin

  1. Latinrefellere
  2. Englishrefel

From Latin refellere, from re- + fallere (“to deceive”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

fleerFreel
Cite this entry
APA

refel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refel

MLA

“refel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refel. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “refel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refel.

Source: refel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.