1580–90; < Latin enthȳmēma < Greek enthȳ́mēma thought, argument, equivalent to enthȳmē-, variant stem of enthȳmeîsthai to ponder (en- en-2 + -thȳmeîsthai verbal derivative of thȳmós spirit, thought) + -ma noun suffix of result
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
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enthymeme
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enthymeme
in syllogistic, or traditional, logic, name of a syllogistic argument that is incompletely stated. In the argument "All insects have six legs; therefore, all wasps have six legs," the minor premise, "All wasps are insects," is suppressed. Any one of the propositions may be omitted-even the conclusion; but in general it is the one that comes most naturally to the mind. Often in rhetorical language the deliberate omission of one of the propositions has a dramatic effect. This use of the word differs from Aristotle's original application of it (in his Prior Analytics, ii, 27) to a rhetorical syllogism (employed for persuasion instead of instruction) based on "probabilities or signs"; i.e., on propositions that are generally valid or on particular facts that may be held to justify a general principle or another particular fact.
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