beg the question
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.03 in modern English
29
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
2
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii).
Example Sentences
- "The objection is that the argument begs the question, meaning that the premise, that God has all the virtues, assumes the conclusion, that God is benevolent."
- "1860, Henry Adams, letter, 6 May However I hope we shall do better as we go on and as long as there's no dodging or begging the question on our side, I'm not afraid."
- "Three people were hurt in the fire at the warehouse last night, which begs the question: what were they doing there in the first place?"
- "Invariably, the principal object is to improve air quality. But those constraints beg the question: why has no city followed Nottingham's example of a workplace parking levy, which has generated about £10 million a year to finance the city's tram system?"
Etymology
Translating Latin petītiō prīncipiī, itself translating Ancient Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι (tò en arkhēî aiteîsthai, “to assume from the beginning”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: petītiō prīncipiī, τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι