WORD OF THE DAY
Tautology is useless restatement, or saying the same thing twice using different words. “Speedy sprint" is a tautology because sprint already means "speedy running."
The noun tautology originates from the Greek word tautologos, meaning “repeating what is said.” "A pedestrian traveling on foot" is a tautology because a pedestrian, by definition, is someone who walks. In the study of logic, a tautology is a statement that is necessarily true under any interpretation and cannot be denied without introducing logical inconsistencies. "It will snow tomorrow, or it will not snow tomorrow" is an example. No argument here — it's true any way you look at it.
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Vocabulary lists containing tautology
Words selected by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Derived from the Greek suffix -logia, the suffix -ology in English means "the science of or the study of."
You'll be able to express yourself with style once you learn these rhetorical devices and tropes. This vocabulary list covers a wide range of techniques used in formal speech and writing, from alliteration to zeugma.
Arnold Spirit, Jr., a young cartoonist who lives on the Spokane Indian reservation, decides to transfer to a school in which he will be the only American Indian student.
You'll be able to express yourself with style once you learn these rhetorical devices and tropes. This vocabulary list covers a wide range of techniques used in formal speech and writing, from alliteration to zeugma. You'll master metonymy, investigate irony, understand understatement, and more.
