Enthymema

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of logical argument in which one premise is unstated yet understood, leading to a conclusion derived through implied reasoning
2. This term identifies a form of reasoning that involves an omitted premise, allowing for logical deductions based on what is suggested rather than what is explicitly stated
3. A form of deductive reasoning characterizing arguments where an implicit premise is accepted, resulting in conclusions reached through understood implications

Etymology: Aristotle gave this term its technical sense. In Greek, "enthumēma" meant simply "thought" or "consideration," built from "en," meaning "within," and "thumos," a word for the soul, breath or spirit, which in Homer could also mean courage or temper. The sense of a thought held inside the mind gave rise to the logical meaning: a mental reasoning step, not yet spelled out. In Aristotle's rhetorical and logical works, an enthymeme is a syllogism with one premise left unstated, relying on the listener to supply it. Its power lies in that gap, since an audience that fills in an assumption feels persuaded by its own conclusion rather than by the speaker's words. The term passed into Latin and then into English in its Greek-derived spelling, and the variant "enthymema" appears as an alternative form of the same word.