sorites

American  

[saw-rahy-teez, soh-] / sɔˈraɪ tiz, soʊ- /

noun

Logic.

1. a form of argument having several premises and one conclusion, capable of being resolved into a chain of syllogisms, the conclusion of each of which is a premise of the next.

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sorites British  

/ sɒˈraɪtiːz, sɒˈrɪtɪkəl /

noun

1. logic

   1. a polysyllogism in which the premises are arranged so that intermediate conclusions are omitted, being understood, and only the final conclusion is stated

   2. a paradox of the form

      these few grains of sand do not constitute a heap, and the addition of a single grain never makes what is not yet a heap into a heap: so no matter how many single grains one adds it never becomes a heap

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Other Word Forms

• soritic
  adjective
• soritical
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sorites

1545–55; < Latin sōrītēs < Greek sōreítēs literally, heaped, piled up, derivative of sōrós a heap

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sorites

The converse, is concluded by the same sorites, but by saying all backward.

From The Way To Geometry by William Bedwell

The rules above given do not apply to the irregular sorites, except so far as that only one premiss can be particular and only one negative, which follows from the general rules of syllogism.

From Deductive Logic by St. George William Joseph Stock

Kindly observe the neat gradations, the artistic sorites of Mpongwe lies.

From Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1 by Sir Richard Francis Burton

The whole must needs follow by a sorites or induction.

From The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

For the regular sorites the following rules may be laid down.

From Deductive Logic by St. George William Joseph Stock