Autologically

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner that is self-descriptive or applies to itself as an example
2. Done in a way that the subject refers to its own characteristics or qualities
3. Expressed or exhibited such that the example inherently demonstrates its own meaning

Etymology: "Autologically" is the adverb form of "autological," a term coined by the English logician and writer Kurt Grelling? No, that is not quite right: the term was introduced in the 1940s by the German-born logician Kurt Grelling, and the adjective "autological" and its opposite "heterological" were proposed in his 1942 work on the paradoxes of logic, in which the word "autological" applied to words that describe themselves. Its meaning is a mirror: "short" is autological because it is itself short, while "long" is heterological because it is not long. The adverb simply describes doing this, so a word can be used autologically when it exemplifies its own definition. The building blocks are Greek. "Auto-" comes from "autos," meaning "self," and "-logical" comes from "logikos," relating to reason or speech, from "logos." Combined, the sense is "self-reasoning" or "self-describing," a fitting name for a word that describes itself.