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tautology
4 dictionary results for: tautological
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
tau·tol·o·gy       [taw-tol-uh-jee] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural -gies.
1.needless repetition of an idea, esp. 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.”
[Origin: 1570–80; < LL tautologia < Gk tautología. See tauto-, -logy]

—Related forms
tau·to·log·i·cal       [tawt-l-oj-i-kuhl] Pronunciation Key, tau·to·log·ic, tau·tol·o·gous       [taw-tol-uh-guhs] Pronunciation Key, adjective
tau·to·log·i·cal·ly, tau·tol·o·gous·ly, adverb
tau·tol·o·gist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
tau·tol·o·gy       (tô-tŏl'ə-jē)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. tau·tol·o·gies
    1. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy.
    2. An instance of such repetition.
  2. Logic An empty or vacuous statement composed of simpler statements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false; for example, the statement Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow.


[Late Latin tautologia, from Greek tautologiā, from tautologos, redundant : tauto-, tauto- + logos, saying; see -logy.]

tau'to·log'i·cal (tôt'l-ŏj'ĭ-kəl), tau'to·log'ic (-ĭk) adj., tau'to·log'i·cal·ly adv.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
tautological

adjective
repetition of same sense in different words; "'a true fact' and 'a free gift' are pleonastic expressions"; "the phrase 'a beginner who has just started' is tautological"; "at the risk of being redundant I return to my original proposition"- J.B.Conant [syn: pleonastic] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Tautological

Tau`to*log"ic*al\, a. [Cf. F. tautologique.] Involving tautology; having the same signification; as, tautological expression. -- Tau`to*log"ic*al*ly, adv.

Tautological echo, an echo that repeats the same sound or syllable many times.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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