tautology Hear it!

tautology Definition

tau·tol·ogy (tô tälə jē)

noun pl. -·gies

    1. needless repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence; redundancy; pleonasm (Ex.: “necessary essentials”)
    2. an instance of such repetition
  1. Logic a proposition that is analytic (sense )

Etymology: LL tautologia < Gr: see tauto- & -logy

tautology Synonyms

tautology

n.

redundancy, pleonasm, reiteration; see repetition.

tautology Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • avoid: Avoid tautology which is the needless repetition of the same idea.
  • become: The linguistically challenged misunderstood this and the phrase became the tautology it now is ( A href="http

Adjective modifier

  • useful: And vitally, we're not stuck in having to talk about ' useful tautologies ' .
  • mere: The proofs of the existence of God are... mere hollow tautologies.
  • empty: But when difference is relational, it is also an empty tautology.

Modifies a noun

  • implicatures: Davis argues that the specific tautology implicatures which actually arise in English are not ones that audiences could work out.

Browse dictionary entries near tautology

  1. tautologous
  2. tautological
  3. tautog
  4. tauto-
  5. tauten
  6. taut
  7. Taurus Mountains
  8. Taurus
  9. tauromachy
  10. taurocholic acid
  1. tautomer
  2. tautomerism
  3. tautonym
  4. tav
  5. tavern
  6. taverna
  7. taverner
  8. taw
  9. tawdry
  10. Tawney