English

Noun

elenchus ‎(uncountable)

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 and Nicholas D. Smith, “Socrates’ Elenctic Mission”, in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Volume IX (1991), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823990-1, page 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.

Related terms

• elenctic

Synonyms

• Socratic method

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔλεγχος ‎(élenkhos, “refutation, scrutiny”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lemgʰ- ‎(“to accuse, to scold”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eˈlen.kʰus/, [ɛˈɫɛŋ.kʰʊs]

Noun

elenchus m ‎(genitive elenchī); second declension

1. costly trinket (especially an earring)
2. refutation

Inflection

Second declension.

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, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “elenchus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• elenchus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• elenchus in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) 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