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contradiction

ˌkän-trə-ˈdik-shən 4 syllables uncommon

  1. noun.act or an instance of contradicting

    • the defendant's contradiction of the plaintiff's accusations
    • … both parts of a contradiction cannot possibly be true …
  2. noun.a proposition, statement, or phrase that asserts or implies both the truth and falsity of something

    • a round square is a contradiction in terms
  3. noun.a statement or phrase whose parts contradict each other

Origin

Middle English contradiccioun "objection, opposition, contradiction in logic" borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French contradiction, borrowed from Latin contrādictiōn-, contrādictiō "act of speaking in opposition, counterargument" (Late Latin also "contradiction in logic," after Greek antíphasis), from contrādic-, variant stem of contrādīcere "to speak against, object to" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action.

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