tautology
2
9.4
- noun
- /tɔːˈtɑːlədʒi/
- Specialized
:
tautología
- Repetition in verse is analogous to tautology in folklore.
And yet self consciousness is only the motionless tautology of I am I.
- And yet self consciousness is only the motionless tautology of I am I.
- We saw him in just the previous paragraphs talking in terms of a tautology.
Examples
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Isn't it a tautology that to reduce emissions of CO2, you have to reduce emissions of CO2?
Blog text (30) -
It's true that natural selection, as usually invoked by Darwinists, is a tautology.
Blog text (1) -
So this looks like it's an instance of this tautology, but we cannot prove it.
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What is this tautology of consciousness?
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An acceptance of these arguments results in a tautology: the Japanese are the way they are because they are Japanese.
Academic text (1998) -
Third, the bank is in danger of overdetermining development to the point where it is a tautology, not a reasonable prescription.
Academic text (2001) -
Tautologies are considered meaningless because they offer no information other than what is already known.
Academic text (2000) -
For this approach to be effective, however, the judiciary cannot abdicate its role by regarding the Tenth Amendment as a tautology and thus depriving it of substantive content.
Academic text (2006) -
A detailed excavation of these controversies helps us understand that Stoddart's objection to the tautology of the collection's title was a calculated stance, itself an intervention into fiercely contested disputes over the meaning of the ballad form.
Academic text (2016) -
In logic, a statement like 'It will either rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow' is a classic example of a tautology.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
tautology = tauto + logy
Although the word is historically built from Greek elements meaning 'same' and 'saying', the logical sense 'a statement true in all interpretations' is a specialized technical meaning that is not predictable for most learners from the parts.
Etymology
Tautology comes from Greek parts tauto- meaning 'the same' and -logy from logos meaning 'word' or 'reason'. In logic a tautology is like a 'same-word' statement that stays true in every case, which is why it cannot be false.