tautology C2 Topic:Mind & Cognition US /tɔˈtɑl.ə.d͡ʒi/ UK /toːˈtɔl.ə.d͡ʒi/ See IPA manual Freq #115891 Meanings 1 noun useless repetition To say that something is `adequate enough' is a tautology. 2 noun a statement that is necessarily true The statement 'You are brave or you are not brave' is a tautology. 3 noun Redundant use of words, a pleonasm, an unnecessary and tedious repetition. It is tautology to say, "Forward Planning". 4 noun An expression that features tautology. The expression "raze to the ground" is a tautology, since the word "raze" includes the notion "to the ground". Thesaurus ↔ Opposites contradictionoxymoron Word family Derived forms tautologicaltautologicallytautologisetautologisttautologoustautologously Related forms pleonasmredundancy Etymology From Late Latin tautologia, from Ancient Greek ταὐτολογία (tautología) from ταὐτός (tautós, “the same”) + λόγος (lógos, “explanation”). By surface analysis, tauto- + -logy. Topics Mind & Cognition External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # tautology **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /tɔˈtɑl.ə.d͡ʒi/ **IPA (UK):** /toːˈtɔl.ə.d͡ʒi/ **Frequency rank:** 115891 ## Meanings 1. useless repetition 2. a statement that is necessarily true 3. Redundant use of words, a pleonasm, an unnecessary and tedious repetition. 4. An expression that features tautology. ## Examples - To say that something is `adequate enough' is a tautology. - The statement 'You are brave or you are not brave' is a tautology. - It is tautology to say, "Forward Planning". - The expression "raze to the ground" is a tautology, since the word "raze" includes the notion "to the ground". ## Antonyms - contradiction - oxymoron ## Derived Forms - tautological - tautologically - tautologise - tautologist - tautologous - tautologously ## Related Forms - pleonasm - redundancy ## Etymology From Late Latin tautologia, from Ancient Greek ταὐτολογία (tautología) from ταὐτός (tautós, “the same”) + λόγος (lógos, “explanation”). By surface analysis, tauto- + -logy. ## Topics - Mind & Cognition markdown