amphiboly
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old French amphibolie, from Latin amphibolia, from Ancient Greek ἀμφιβολία (“ambiguity”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
amphiboly (plural amphibolies)
- (grammar) An ambiguous grammatical construction.
- 1931, Adrian Coates, "Philosophy as Criticism and Point of View," Philosophy, vol. 6, no. 23, p. 339,
- By logical errors I mean such simple things as Equivocation, Amphiboly, and Begging the Question.
- 1987, Jeffrey Buechner, "Radically Misinterpreting Radical Interpretation," The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 45, no. 4, p. 410,
- The language might be fraught with word ambiguity or sentence amphiboly.
- 1931, Adrian Coates, "Philosophy as Criticism and Point of View," Philosophy, vol. 6, no. 23, p. 339,
Usage notes [edit]
- Strictly speaking, in an amphiboly the individual words are unambiguous; the ambiguity results entirely from the linguistic manner in which they have been combined. [1]
Derived terms [edit]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
