rebut (v.)

c. 1300, "to thrust back," from Old French reboter, rebuter "to thrust back," from re- "back" (see re-) + boter "to strike, push," from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic buttan, from PIE root *bhau- "to strike." Legalese sense of "try to disprove, refute by evidence or argument" is from 1817. Related: Rebutted; rebutting.