elenchus

English

Etymology

From Latin elenchus, from Ancient Greek ἔλεγχος (élenkhos, “refutation, scrutiny, control”). Doublet of elench.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈlɛŋ.kəs/

Noun

elenchus (plural elenchi)

1. (rhetoric) A technique of argument associated with Socrates wherein the arguer asks the interlocutor to agree with a series of premises and conclusions, ending with the arguer's intended point.
   • 1991, Thomas c. Brickhouse, Nicholas D. Smith, “Socrates’ Elenctic Mission”, in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, volume IX, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 131–132:

     The elenchus begins when an interlocutor makes some moral claim that Socrates wishes to examine. The argument then proceeds from premisses that express certain of the interlocutor’s other beliefs to a conclusion that contradicts the original moral claim under scrutiny.

Synonyms

• Socratic method

Derived terms

• elenchize

Related terms

• elenctic

Further reading

• “elenchus”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “elenchus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• lunchees

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔλεγχος (élenkhos, “refutation, scrutiny”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʰ- (“to accuse, to scold”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɛˈɫɛŋ.kʰʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [eˈlɛŋ.kus]

Noun

elenchus m (genitive elenchī); second declension

1. costly trinket (especially an earring)
2. refutation
3. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) list

   Elenchus tamen Sanctorum necnon Beatorum in Martyrologio ― The list however of Saints and Blesseds in the Martyrology

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	elenchus	elenchī
genitive	elenchī	elenchōrum
dative	elenchō	elenchīs
accusative	elenchum	elenchōs
ablative	elenchō	elenchīs
vocative	elenche	elenchī

Descendants

• Catalan: elenc
• English: elenchus, elench
• Italian: elenco
• Portuguese: elenco
• Romanian: elencos, elenchus
• Spanish: elenco

References

• “elenchus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “elenchus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "elenchus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “elenchus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “elenchus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• elenchus in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “elenchus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin