| ready or willing to answer, open to influence, persuasion, or advice; agreeable |
| well-suited for the occasion, as an action, manner, or expression; apt; appropriate: |
axiom (ˈæksɪəm) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a generally accepted proposition or principle, sanctioned by experience; maxim |
| 2. | a universally established principle or law that is not a necessary truth: the axioms of politics |
| 3. | a self-evident statement |
| 4. | logic, maths Compare assumption a statement or formula that is stipulated to be true for the purpose of a chain of reasoning: the foundation of a formal deductive system |
| [C15: from Latin axiōma a principle, from Greek, from axioun to consider worthy, from axios worthy] | |
| axiom (āk'sē-əm) Pronunciation Key
A principle that is accepted as true without proof. The statement "For every two points P and Q there is a unique line that contains both P and Q" is an axiom because no other information is given about points or lines, and therefore it cannot be proven. Also called postulate. |
In mathematics, a statement that is unproved but accepted as a basis for other statements, usually because it seems so obvious.
Note: The term axiomatic is used generally to refer to a statement so obvious that it needs no proof.