Amphilogy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A form of linguistic ambiguity that occurs when the phrasing of a statement can lead to more than one interpretation
2. An expression characterized by its capacity to convey multiple meanings resulting from its wording or structure
3. A type of language that can be understood in multiple ways due to vague wording

Etymology: Amphilogy is built from two Greek elements: "amphi-", meaning "on both sides" or "around", and "-logy", from "logos", meaning "word" or "speech". Put together, the sense is speech that points two ways at once, which is exactly what the word now names: a phrase whose wording supports two distinct meanings. The Greek roots are ancient, but the compound itself is a later construction, and it is the kind of coinage that scholars and rhetoricians built from classical parts when they needed a precise name for a specific device. The "amphi-" prefix appears in other English words, such as "amphibian" (living on both land and water) and "amphitheatre", which share the same sense of two-sidedness or surrounding. So the pattern of the word is transparent: a double-sided word-thing.

Synonyms: ambiguity, equivocation