tautology
Americannoun
plural
tautologies-
needless repetition of an idea, especially in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in “widow woman.”
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an instance of such repetition.
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Logic.
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a compound propositional form all of whose instances are true, as “A or not A.”
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an instance of such a form, as “This candidate will win or will not win.”
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noun
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the use of words that merely repeat elements of the meaning already conveyed, as in the sentence Will these supplies be adequate enough? in place of Will these supplies be adequate?
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logic a statement that is always true, esp a truth-functional expression that takes the value true for all combinations of values of its components, as in either the sun is out or the sun is not out Compare inconsistency contingency
Usage
What does tautology mean? A tautology is the unnecessary repetition of an idea, statement, or word whose meaning has already been expressed, as in 8 a.m. in the morning. (The label a.m. indicates the morning, so in the morning creates a tautology).Tautologies say the same thing twice without adding new information or emphasis.In logic, tautology has a more specific meaning: a statement that is always true, as in Statement 1 is true or not true or Either we will arrive on time or we will not arrive on time. Example: My professor pointed out that the phrase “evening sunset” is a tautology because sunsets always happen in the evening.
Other Word Forms
- tautologic adjective
- tautological adjective
- tautologically adverb
- tautologist noun
- tautologous adjective
Etymology
Origin of tautology
First recorded in 1570–80; from Late Latin tautologia, from Greek tautología “repetition of something already said” (a term in rhetoric); tauto-, -logy
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.
Too true, in the way that tautologies always are: Anti-Jewish hatred is indeed antisemitism.
From Los Angeles Times
On one level, this is a fairly ridiculous tautology.
From Los Angeles Times
The problem with this narrative is that it’s just a pejorative tautology.
From Washington Post
I just say “the novel”; which isn’t an answer, it’s a tautology — but a necessary one maybe.
From New York Times
It’s a beautiful tautology: a true-to-life movie about a life made for movies.
From New York Times
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.
