(Noun)
Pronunciation: [ta-'tah-lê-ji or taw-]

Definition: Redundant word or phrase, a pleonasm; (in philosophy) a statement comprising two clauses that make the statement necessarily true whether either of the two statements is true or false, e.g. "Philosophy will either drive me crazy or it won't drive me crazy."

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Usage: The classical tautology as "an unmarried bachelor." This phrase is tautological (the adjective) because "unmarried" is part of the meaning of "bachelor" and hence does not have to be repeated. The colloquial meaning of today's word makes it a synonym of another recent Word of the Day, "pleonasm" (for which see our Archives).

Suggested Usage: "That is tautological" is one of the better punch lines for your armory of witticisms. Try using it when you hear people utter phrases like "devious politician," "greedy Enron executive," "the stock market is risky," or "sneaky lobbyist." If you give advance warning of a dangerous terrorist attack, you have wasted two words squeezing two tautologies into one utterance.

Etymology: Greek tautologos "redundant" based on tauto- "identical" + logos "word, idea." The Greek word "logos," from which English gets "logic" and the suffix "-ology," is the noun of legein "to speak, talk" which underlies "lexicon," "lecture," and "legend." The root which produced Greek "legein" entered Germanic languages as *lekjaz "enchanter," which devolved into Old English laece "physician, doctor" and Modern English "leech." "Legere" in Latin meant "to collect or read" and it produces lex, legis "law" (collection of rules), which turns up in "legislation" and "intellect."

ITPub博客

Word of the Day: Tautology

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