syllogism
[sil-uh-jiz-uh m]
noun
Logic. an argument the conclusion of which is supported by two premises, of which one (major premise) contains the term (major term) that is the predicate of the conclusion, and the other (minor premise) contains the term (minor term) that is the subject of the conclusion; common to both premises is a term (middle term) that is excluded from the conclusion. A typical form is “All A is C; all B is A; therefore all B is C.”
deductive reasoning.
an extremely subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument.
Origin of syllogism
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for syllogism
Contemporary Examples of syllogism
Historical Examples of syllogism
The first part answers to the term, the second to the proposition, the third to the syllogism.
SophistPlato
We also can make a syllogism, and it reads thus: The present State is tolerable.
Social Justice Without SocialismJohn Bates Clark
It bristles with incongruity and contradiction, yet it is as logical as a syllogism.
The major premise of this syllogism is a fact of observation.
Christianity and Greek PhilosophyBenjamin Franklin Cocker
State two or three of Burke's arguments in the form of a syllogism.
Teachers' Outlines for Studies in EnglishGilbert Sykes Blakely
syllogism
noun
Word Origin for syllogism
C14: via Latin from Greek sullogismos, from sullogizesthai to reckon together, from sul- syn- + logizesthai to calculate, from logos a discourse
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