independent axiom

noun

Logic, Mathematics.

1. in a set of axioms, one that cannot be proved by using the others in the set.

Word History and Origins

Origin of independent axiom¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

The proposition, that effects are proportional to their causes, is sometimes laid down as an independent axiom of causation: it is really only a particular case of the composition of causes; and it fails at the same point as the latter principle, viz. when an addition does not become compounded with the original cause, but the two together generate a new phenomenon.

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