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enthymeme

[ en-thuh-meem ]

noun

, Logic.
  1. a syllogism or other argument in which a premise or the conclusion is unexpressed.


enthymeme

/ ˈɛnθɪˌmiːm /

noun

  1. an incomplete syllogism, in which one or more premises are unexpressed as their truth is considered to be self-evident
  2. any argument some of whose premises are omitted as obvious


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Derived Forms

  • ˌenthymeˈmatic, adjective

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Other Words From

  • en·thy·me·mat·ic [en-th, uh, -mee-, mat, -ik], adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of enthymeme1

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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Word History and Origins

Origin of enthymeme1

C16: via Latin from Greek enthumēma, from enthumeisthai to infer (literally: to have in the mind), from en- ² + thumos mind

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Example Sentences

It is a common way of hiding a weak point to cover it in the suppressed premise of an enthymeme.

Aristotle used Enthymeme in the wider sense of an elliptically expressed argument.

One form of enthymeme is so common in modern rhetoric as to deserve a distinctive name.

In the bald, simple forms here set down, the syllogism and enthymeme are hardly suited to delivery in speeches.

Logic proceeds by induction and syllogism, rhetoric by the enthymeme, and poetic by the example.

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