enthymeme

[ en-thuh-meem ]

/ ˈɛn θəˌmim /

noun Logic.

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

Nearby words

enthronement, enthuse, enthusiasm, enthusiast, enthusiastic, enthymeme, entia, entice, enticement, enticing, entire

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

Related formsen·thy·me·mat·ic

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for enthymeme

In the bald, simple forms here set down, the syllogism and enthymeme are hardly suited to delivery in speeches.
Public Speaking|Clarence Stratton
The Enthymeme is a syllogism from Probabilities or Signs;77 the two being not exactly the same.
Aristotle|George Grote
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

Moreover the premises of an enthymeme are likely to rest on opinion rather than on axioms.
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 Formsenthymematic 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

Word Origin and History for enthymeme

enthymeme

"a syllogism in which one premise is omitted," 1580s, from Latin enthymema, from Greek enthymema "thought, argument," from enthymesthai "to think, consider," literally "to keep in mind, take to heart," from en "in" (see en- (2)) + thymos "mind" (see fume (n.)).