reductio ad absurdum
English
Noun
reductio ad absurdum
- (mathematics, logic) The method of proving a statement by assuming the statement is false and, with that assumption, arriving at a blatant contradiction.
Synonyms
Translations
proof by contradiction — see proof by contradiction
Latin
Etymology
Possibly a loose translation of the Ancient Greek ἡ εἰς τὸ ἀδύνατον ἀπόδειξις (hē eis tò adúnaton apódeixis, “demonstration towards the impossible”).
Noun
reductiō ad absurdum f sg (genitive reductiōnis ad absurdum); third declension
Declension
Third-declension noun with an indeclinable portion, singular only.
| Case | Singular |
|---|---|
| Nominative | reductiō ad absurdum |
| Genitive | reductiōnis ad absurdum |
| Dative | reductiōnī ad absurdum |
| Accusative | reductiōnem ad absurdum |
| Ablative | reductiōne ad absurdum |
| Vocative | reductiō ad absurdum |
Categories:
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals
- English multiword terms
- en:Mathematics
- en:Logic
- Latin terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin third declension nouns
- Latin feminine nouns in the third declension
- Latin multiword terms
- Latin feminine nouns