logician
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of logician
1350–1400; logic + -ian; replacing Middle English logicien < Middle French
Explanation
Logic is the science of reasoning and relationships between ideas. An expert in logic is a logician. Spock, a Star Trek character, is the ultimate logician — when asked why not, he answers, "Because it isn't logical." A logician examines statements to decide whether they are true and is active in the fields of math and computer science. A very simple example of what a logician does can be given with the word or. What exactly does it mean if you say "A or B?" A logician would say that it can mean: 1. A but not B, 2. B but not A, or 3. A and B (this sounds weird but in logic this is true). Or, however, does not mean "not A and not B." Logicians usually deal with much more complex ideas and statements than this.
Vocabulary lists containing logician
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More successfully, in the 19th century, George Boole—mathematician, logician, theoretical psychologist—“fundamentally changed our understanding of logic,” Mr. Griffiths tells us, by “showing how reason could be captured by a formal system.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
As Bessent should understand, the violation of one logical condition can obviate the logic of another—what a logician might call an “antecedent condition.”
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
It was formulated by Boole, an Irish mathematician and logician, who redirected the study of reasoning.
From Salon • Jul. 29, 2024
Throughout the washes of guffaws, chuckles and hysterics that accompanied Eddie Izzard’s set on Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl, the British comedian, actor, logician and mimic performed gymnastic non-sequitur sequences and nuanced physical comedy.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2023
But English is more flexible than what a logician would have designed, and the context generally makes it clear what the speaker means.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
