Complete Definition of "paradox"

English

Etymology
L. paradoxum, from Gr. �α�άδοξο� (paradoxos), "aside belief"

Pronunciation
italbrac|RP IPA|/�pær�d�ks/
italbrac|US IPA|/�p�r�d��ks/
audio|en-us-paradox.ogg|Audio (US)

Noun
wikipedia
en-noun|es

  1. A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is actually true.

#:It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.

  1. An apparently true statement that appears to lead to a contradiction or to circumstances that defy intuition.

#:Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox.

<!--there is no such term in mathematics; in any case, this is equivalent to the first definition - Paul G, 2005-08-17
#mathematics a conclusion based on undefined functions
#:Example: (2 x 0) (3 x 0) therefore (dividing both sides by zero) 2 3-->

  1. a person or thing showing contradictory property|properties

#:He is a paradox; you would not expect him in that political party.
#A statement that leads to an infinite and instant contradiction.
#:If a court ruled that common law no longer existed, then the only thing that made that ruling binding was common law, which means that the ruling instantly destroys what lets it exist, which means it no longer exists, which means common law can exist again, which means the ruling can exist again, which means common law doesn't exist anymore because of the ruling, which means the ruling doesn't exist, etc.

Derived terms
paradoxical
European paradox

Translations

trans-top|An apparently true statement that seems to lead to a contradiction
Dutch: paradox m
Finnish: paradoksi
French: paradoxe m
German: Paradox Paradoxon n
Greek: �α�αδοξολογία f
Italian: paradosso m
Japanese: �説
trans-mid
Polish: paradoks m
Portuguese: paradoxo m
Slovene: paradoks m
Spanish: paradoja f
Swedish: paradox c
trans-bottom

trans-top|in logic: a self-contradictory statement
Dutch: paradox m, tegenspraak f
Finnish: paradoksi
French: paradoxe m, antinomie f
Japanese: ��
trans-mid
Polish: paradoks m
Portuguese: paradoxo m
Slovene: paradoks m
Spanish: paradoja f
Swedish: paradox c
trans-bottom

trans-top|a person or thing with contradictory characteristics
Greek: αν�ί�α�η (andífasi) f
trans-mid
trans-bottom

checktrans
trans-top|Translations to be categorised
ttbc|Latin: paradoxum
trans-mid
trans-bottom


Romanian

Etymology
L.|ro term|paradoxum|lang=la, Gr.|ro polytonic|�α�άδοξο�

Pronunciation
IPA|[pa.ra'doks]|lang=ro

Noun
ro-noun|gendn|plparadoxuri

  1. l|en|paradox

Declension
ro-noun-n|pl=paradoxuri

ar:paradox
fa:paradox
fr:paradox
io:paradox
it:paradox
ja:paradox
pl:paradox
fi:paradox
sv:paradox
te:paradox
vi:paradox
zh:paradox

Revision and Credits for"paradox"
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