This week's theme
18-letter words to mark Wordsmith.org's octodecennial

This week's words
preantepenultimate
gedankenexperiment
reductio ad absurdum
plurisignification
princesse lointaine

---

Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ri-DUHK-tee-o ad ab-SUHR-duhm)

MEANING:

noun: Demonstration of the falsity of a premise by showing an absurdity to which it would logically lead.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin reductio ad absurdum (reduction to the absurd), from reductio (reduction) + ad (to) + Latin absurdum (absurdity). Earliest documented use: 1659.

USAGE:

"Their reductio ad absurdum: why not just bypass the blog, too, and move right on to 140 characters about Shermn's Mrch?"
Matt Richtel; Blogs vs. Term Papers; The New York Times; Jan 20, 2012.

"I'm sorry, but all these 'life begins at conception' arguments are sheer nonsense. Killing a cluster of cells that has the potential of becoming human life is not the same as killing a human being. Here is a reductio ad absurdum argument for all the extreme pro-lifers. With modern cloning technology, a simple skin cell is a potential baby. Where do pro-life people stand on removing a wart or a mole? Are dermatologists the latest in the long list of baby killers?"
Dialogue is Needed on Abortion; St. Petersburg Times (Florida); May 20, 2009.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: