enthymeme

[ en-thuh-meem ]

/ ˈɛn θəˌmim /

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noun Logic.

a syllogism or other argument in which a premise or the conclusion is unexpressed.

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Origin of enthymeme

1580–90; <Latin enthȳmēma<Greek enthȳ́mēma thought, argument, equivalent to enthȳmē-, variant stem of enthȳmeîsthai to ponder (en-en-² + -thȳmeîsthai verbal derivative of thȳmós spirit, thought) + -ma noun suffix of result

OTHER WORDS FROM enthymeme

en·thy·me·mat·ic

[en-thuh-mee-mat-ik], /ˌɛn θə miˈmæt ɪk/, adjective

Words nearby enthymeme

enthronement, enthuse, enthusiasm, enthusiast, enthusiastic, enthymeme, entice, enticement, enticing, entire, en tire-bouchon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use enthymeme in a sentence

It is a common way of hiding a weak point to cover it in the suppressed premise of an enthymeme.
English: Composition and Literature|W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
Aristotle used Enthymeme in the wider sense of an elliptically expressed argument.
Logic, Inductive and Deductive|William Minto
One form of enthymeme is so common in modern rhetoric as to deserve a distinctive name.
Logic, Inductive and Deductive|William Minto
In the bald, simple forms here set down, the syllogism and enthymeme are hardly suited to delivery in speeches.
Public Speaking|Clarence Stratton

Logic proceeds by induction and syllogism, rhetoric by the enthymeme, and poetic by the example.
Rhetoric and Poetry in the Renaissance|Donald Lemen Clark

British Dictionary definitions for enthymeme

enthymeme

/ (ˈɛnθɪˌmiːm) /

noun logic

an incomplete syllogism, in which one or more premises are unexpressed as their truth is considered to be self-evident

any argument some of whose premises are omitted as obvious

Derived forms of enthymeme

enthymematic or enthymematical, adjective

Word Origin for enthymeme

C16: via Latin from Greek enthumēma, from enthumeisthai to infer (literally: to have in the mind), from en- ² + thumos mind

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012