| Definitions | | paradox |
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noun
- 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.
- 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-->
- a person or thing showing contradictory property, properties
- He is a ; 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.
Translations: - Dutch: paradox , tegenspraak
- French: paradoxe , antinomie
- German: Paradox Paradoxon
- Italian: paradosso
- Spanish: paradoja
Etymology: paradoxum, from (paradoxos), "aside belief"
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