Contradiccioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A situation in which two statements, ideas, or facts are so opposed that both cannot be true at the same time
2. The logical clash that arises when one claim denies or rules out another, so they cannot coexist
3. Inconsistency between two things, such that accepting one requires rejecting the other

Etymology: Its Latin ancestor, "contradictio," is built from "contra," meaning "against," and "dicere," meaning "to speak," so the core idea is literally speaking against something. A Latin speaker who said a claim was contradicted was saying that someone had spoken against it. The Middle English spelling "contradiccioun" shows the route the word took. It came into English through Old French, where the Latin form had already been reshaped into "contradiction," and the Middle English spelling keeps the French "-ciou-" ending. Modern English dropped that ending and settled on "contradiction," but the word is the same one, only spelled to match its later form.