Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.pdf

A-Z 369entailmentimplicationenthymeme [Grk enthymázein ‘to ponder’]An abridged syllogism, the major premise being omitted as understood. Aristotle, whointroduced the term, used it to mean a syllogism in which the premises are only generallytrue, a rhetorical, or probable, syllogism. In contrast to the ‘analytical’ or ‘apodictic’syllogism, the points of proof of the enthymeme can remain unexpressed, e.g. Socrates isa man, and therefore mortal. They must not necessarily be true, but simply plausible. Thecharacteristic argument of an enthymeme is the topos.ReferencesAnderson, A.R. and N.P.Belnap. 1961. Enthymemes. Journal of Philosophy 58. 712–22.Burney, M.C. 1974. The place of the enthymeme in rhetorical theory. In K.V.Erickson (ed.),Aristotle: the classical heritage of rhetoric. Metuchen, NJ. 117–40.rhetoricEnglish for Speakers of Other Languages(abbrev. ESOL) ESLentropy [Grk entropía ‘twist, turn’]In information theory, the mean informational content of a set of signs. The term isderived from thermodynamics and is frequently used as a synonym for information 2 .