English
redargue
Redargue comes from Latin redarguō ‘to disprove, refute’, from arguō ‘to clarify, to make plain’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- ‘white, shining’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂erǵ-1‘white, shining’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂érǵus1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*argus1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarguō1‘to clarify, to make plain’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEredarguō2as redarguere‘to disprove, refute’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600redarguer2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redarguen2
- Englishearliest quotation 1632redargue2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin redarguo
- 2 Wiktionary, English redargue
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1632, The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]: “Dia[ph Silkworm]. Sir, Ile redargue you, / By diſputation.…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂erǵ-Wiktionary, Latin redarguo‘white, shining’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂érǵusWiktionary, Latin redarguoreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*argusWiktionary, Latin redarguouncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarguōWiktionary, Latin redarguo‘to clarify, to make plain’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEredarguōWiktionary, English redargueas redarguere‘to disprove, refute’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600redarguerWiktionary, English redargue
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redarguenWiktionary, English redargue
- Englishearliest quotation 1632redargueWiktionary, English redargue. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1632, The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]: “Dia[ph Silkworm]. Sir, Ile redargue you, / By diſputation.…”
The story
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).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- ‘white, shining’
through Proto-Italic *argus
argumentative, argumentation, 29 more
through Latin arguō ‘to clarify, to make plain’
Today it means
verb To disprove or refute (someone) in an argument.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “redargue”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin redarguo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- / redargue