absurdity
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
- First attested probably in 1472.
- From Middle English absurdite,[1] then from either Middle French absurdité, or from Late Latin absurditas (“dissonance, incongruity”), from Latin absurdus + + -itas.[2][3]
- Surface analysis: absurd + -ity
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
absurdity (countable and uncountable; plural absurdities)
- (obsolete, rare) Dissonance. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the late 17th century.][3]
- (countable) That which is absurd; an absurd action; a logical contradiction. [First attested in the late 15th century.][3]
- His travels were full of absurdities. - Johnson
- (uncountable) The quality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment. [First attested in the early 16th century.][3]
- The absurdity of the actual idea of an infinite number. - John Locke
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page viii
- Neither [Jones] […] nor I (in 1966) could conceive of reducing our "science" to the ultimate absurdity of reading Finnish newspapers almost a century and a half old in order to establish "priority."
Translations [edit]
the quality of being absurd
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an absurd action
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
References [edit]
- ^ 1984 [1975], Urdang, Laurence editor, The Random House College Dictionary, New York, NY: Random House, Inc., ISBN 0-394-43600-8, page 7:
- ^ 1976 [1909], Gove, Philip Babcock editor, Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Co., ISBN 0-87779-101-5, page 8:
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 2003 [1933], Brown, Lesley editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, edition 5th, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7, page 10:
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- Latin words suffixed with -itas
- English words suffixed with -ity
- English nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with rare senses
- English countable nouns
- English uncountable nouns
