refutou

Refutou is the third-person singular preterite form of the Portuguese verb refutar. Refutar means to contest, disprove, or deny the truth of a statement, argument, or claim. The form refutou indicates that someone carried out a refutation in the past, with the subject ele, ela, or você.

Conjugation and usage notes: Refutar is a regular -ar verb. The pretérito perfeito endings are eu refutei, tu refutaste, ele/ela/você refutou, nós refutamos, vós refutastes, eles/elas/refutaram. In Brazilian Portuguese, the form refutou is commonly used with você or ele/ela, while in European Portuguese tu refutaste is used for the second person singular. Refutou is thus a standard past-tense form for reporting a past act of refuting.

Semantics and context: Refutar is used in academic, legal, journalistic, and everyday discourse to describe disproving a claim, argument, hypothesis, or accusation. It often accompanies evidence, reasoning, or data that oppose the subject being challenged. The nuance is one of countering an assertion with arguments or proof.

Etymology and related terms: Refutar derives from Latin refutare, meaning to drive back or repulse. Related forms include refutação (refutation), refutável (refutable), and refutávelidade (the quality of being refutable). These terms are common in discussions of logic, science, and debate.