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tautologymore about tautology

tautology

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Tautology  \Tau*tol"o*gy\,  n.  [L.  tautologia,  Gr  ?:  cf  F. 
  tautologie.]  (Rhet.) 
  A  repetition  of  the  same  meaning  in  different  words  needless 
  repetition  of  an  idea  in  different  words  or  phrases;  a 
  representation  of  anything  as  the  cause  condition,  or 
  consequence  of  itself  as  in  the  following  lines: 
 
  The  dawn  is  overcast,  the  morning  lowers,  And  heavily 
  in  clouds  brings  on  the  day  --Addison. 
 
  Syn:  Repetition. 
 
  Usage:  {Tautology},  {Repetition}.  There  may  be  frequent 
  repetitions  (as  in  legal  instruments)  which  are 
  warranted  either  by  necessity  or  convenience;  but 
  tautology  is  always  a  fault,  being  a  sameness  of 
  expression  which  adds  nothing  to  the  sense  or  the 
  sound. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  tautology 
  n  1:  (in  logic)  a  statement  that  is  necessarily  true;  "the 
  statement  `he  is  brave  or  he  is  not  brave'  is  a 
  tautology" 
  2:  useless  repetition;  "to  say  that  something  is  `adequate 
  enough'  is  a  tautology" 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  tautology 
 
    A  {proposition}  which  is  always  true. 
 
  Compare:  {paradox}. 
 
  {The  Linguistic  Smarandache  Tautologies, 
  (http://www.gallup.unm.edu/~smarandache/tautolog.txt)}. 
 
  (1999-07-28)




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