2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fallacy  \Fal"la*cy\,  n.;  pl  {Fallacies}.  [OE.  fallace,  fallas, 
  deception,  F.  fallace,  fr  L.  fallacia  fr  fallax  deceitful, 
  deceptive,  fr  fallere  to  deceive.  See  {Fail}.] 
  1.  Deceptive  or  false  appearance;  deceitfulness;  that  which 
  misleads  the  eye  or  the  mind;  deception. 
 
  Winning  by  conquest  what  the  first  man  lost,  By 
  fallacy  surprised.  --Milton. 
 
  2.  (Logic)  An  argument,  or  apparent  argument,  which  professes 
  to  be  decisive  of  the  matter  at  issue,  while  in  reality  it 
  is  not  a  sophism. 
 
  Syn:  Deception;  deceit;  mistake. 
 
  Usage:  {Fallacy},  {Sophistry}.  A  fallacy  is  an  argument  which 
  professes  to  be  decisive,  but  in  reality  is  not 
  sophistry  is  also  false  reasoning,  but  of  so  specious 
  and  subtle  a  kind  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  expose 
  its  fallacy.  Many  fallacies  are  obvious,  but  the  evil 
  of  sophistry  lies  in  its  consummate  art.  ``Men  are  apt 
  to  suffer  their  minds  to  be  misled  by  fallacies  which 
  gratify  their  passions.  Many  persons  have  obscured  and 
  confounded  the  nature  of  things  by  their  wretched 
  sophistry;  though  an  act  be  never  so  sinful,  they  will 
  strip  it  of  its  guilt.''  --South. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  fallacy 
  n  :  a  misconception  resulting  from  incorrect  reasoning  [syn:  {false 
  belief}] 

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