Definition of "elenchus" [e•len•chus]

• 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. (noun)

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• "In the dialogues of this group, the elenchus is a negative instrument, but in the Gorgias Socrates seems to use it in support of his bedrock principle."
• "Alexandri quod fertur in Aristotelis Sophisticos elenchus commentarium, Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca 2.3,"
• "The desire to ensure irrefutability, perhaps the legacy of reflection on the Socratic elenchus, drives him to the conclusion that one really has recollected the Form only when one has become a metaphysician."