démenti

noun

dé·​men·​ti

ˌdāmäⁿˈtē

plural -s

: an official or formal denial of the truth of a report

—used especially in diplomacy

Word History

Etymology

French, contradiction, denial, from Middle French demanti, from dementir to contradict, from Old French desmentir, from des- dis- + mentir to tell a lie, from Late Latin mentire, from Latin mentior, from ment-, mens mind

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