aporia

See also: aporía

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aporia, from Ancient Greek ἀπορία (aporía), from ἄπορος (áporos, “impassable”), from ἀ- (a-, “a-”) + πόρος (póros, “passage”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈpɔːɹɪə/

Noun

Examples (rhetoric)
But, how can I describe the beauty of the desert?

aporia (plural aporias)

1. (rhetoric) An expression of deliberation with oneself regarding uncertainty or doubt as to how to proceed.
   • [1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, OCLC 1062248511, page 55:

     Aporia oft in doubt and fear will rest,
     And reason with itself what may be best.]

   • 2012, Andy Martin, ‘Text Messenger’, Literary Review 404:

     Meanings are superposed in an aporia – not ‘either/or’, but ‘and/and’.

   • 2016, Ian McEwan, Nutshell, Vintage, page 9:

     What they intend sickens and frightens them, and they can never speak of it directly. Instead, wrapped in whispers are ellipses, euphemisms, mumbled aporia followed by throat-clearing and a brisk change of subject.

2. (philosophy, post-structuralism) An insoluble contradiction in a text's meaning; a logical impasse suggested by a text or speaker.

   Synonyms: impasse, paradox, contradiction

   • 2009, Mark Fisher, chapter 3, in Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, Zero Books, →ISBN, page 19:

     But Green issues are already a contested zone, already a site where politicization is being fought for. In what follows, I want to stress two other aporias in capitalist realism, which are not yet politicized to anything like the same degree. The first is mental health.

Translations

expression of doubt

• Dutch: twijfel (nl), onzekerheid (nl)
• Greek: απορία (el) f (aporía)

• Portuguese: aporia (pt) f

contradiction, logical impasse

• German: Aporie (de) f
• Hebrew: אפוריה‎
• Portuguese: aporia (pt) f

• Russian: апори́я (ru) f (aporíja)
• Spanish: aporía (es) f

Further reading

• Aporia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑporiɑ/, [ˈɑpo̞ˌriɑ]
• Rhymes: -iɑ
• Syllabification: a‧po‧ri‧a

Noun

aporia

1. aporia

Declension

Inflection of aporia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		aporia	aporiat
genitive		aporian	aporioiden aporioitten
partitive		aporiaa	aporioita
illative		aporiaan	aporioihin
		singular	plural
nominative		aporia	aporiat
accusative	nom.	aporia	aporiat
	gen.	aporian
genitive		aporian	aporioiden aporioitten aporiainrare
partitive		aporiaa	aporioita
inessive		aporiassa	aporioissa
elative		aporiasta	aporioista
illative		aporiaan	aporioihin
adessive		aporialla	aporioilla
ablative		aporialta	aporioilta
allative		aporialle	aporioille
essive		aporiana	aporioina
translative		aporiaksi	aporioiksi
instructive		—	aporioin
abessive		aporiatta	aporioitta
comitative		—	aporioineen

Possessive forms of aporia (type kulkija)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	aporiani	aporiamme
2nd person	aporiasi	aporianne
3rd person	aporiansa

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Italian

Etymology

Ancient Greek

Noun

aporia f (plural aporie)

1. aporia

Anagrams

• rapaio

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Portuguese

Verb

aporia

1. first-person singular conditional of apor
2. third-person singular conditional of apor