tautology [taw-tol-uh-jee]
noun, plural tau·tol·o·gies.
1. 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.”
2. an instance of such repetition.
3. Logic.
a. a compound propositional form all of whose instances are true, as “A or not A.”
b. an instance of such a form, as “This candidate will win or will not win.”
Can be confused
redundancy
Related forms
tau·to·log·i·cal [tawt-l-oj-i-kuh l] /ˌtɔt lˈɒdʒ ɪ kəl/, tau·to·log·ic, tau·tol·o·gous [taw-tol-uh-guh s] /tɔˈtɒl ə gəs/, adjective
tau·to·log·i·cal·ly, tau·tol·o·gous·ly, adverb
tau·tol·o·gist, noun
non·tau·to·log·i·cal, adjective
non·tau·to·log·i·cal·ly, adverb
un·tau·to·log·i·cal, adjective
un·tau·to·log·i·cal·ly, adverb
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Origin: 1570–80; < Late Latin tautologia < Greek tautología. See tauto-, -logy
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