contradictio in adjecto
Latin
Etymology
Literally, “contradiction in what is qualified”, i.e., originally, a contradiction between a noun and a qualifying adjective.
Noun
contradictiō in adjectō f (genitive contradictiōnis in adjectō); third declension
- (Medieval Latin, New Latin) contradiction in terms, oxymoron, self-contradiction
- 1243 – 1316, Giles of Rome, In libros Aristotelis primum et secundum Perhiermenias; republished as In Porphyrij Isagogen, Aristotelis Categorias, et lib. Peri Hermenias […] absolutissima Commentaria, 1591, page 181:
- Nam Homo mortuus, includit in se non viuum; Homo autem includit in se viuum: & ita sequitur contradictio in adiecto.
- For “dead man” encompasses not-living; “man”, however, encompasses living, and there thus follows a self-contradiction.
- 1656, Christian Matthiae, Theatrum historicum theoretico-practicum, in quo quatuor monarchiae […] , page 489:
- Nam qui est stultus, quomodo ille potest dici ingeniosus & ad studia literarum aptus? Videtur enim esse contradictio in adjecto.
- For if someone is stupid, how can he be said to be ingenious and gifted in the study of letters? There seems, therefore, to be a self-contradiction.
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