Word.ws English Dictionary

elenchs

elenchs is the plural of elench.

Meaning of elench

Noun

elench (plural elenchs)

  1. That part of an argument on which its conclusiveness depends; that which convinces or refutes an antagonist; a refutation.
    • Reprehension or Elench […] is a Syllogisme, which gathereth a conclusion contrary to the assertion of the respondent, as if a man would defend Medea not to love her childe, because she killed it, another might reason against him in this manner: every Mother loveth her child: but Medea is a Mother...1599, Thomas Blundeville, The Art of Logicke, London: Matthew Lownes, published 1619, Book 6, Chapter 2, p. 186
  2. (obsolete) A specious argument; a sophism.
    • But of these Sophisms and Elenchs of marchandize I skill not […]1644, John Milton, Areopagitica, page 40

Questions about elenchs

What is elenchs the plural of?
Elenchs is the plural of elench.

Words near elenchs in the dictionary

  1. elenchids
  2. elenchize
  3. elenchized
  4. elenchizes
  5. elenchizing
  6. elenchs
  7. elenchtic
  8. elenchtical
  9. elenchus
  10. elenctic
  11. elenctic method

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: elenchs (page history and authors); elench (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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