Paradoxon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A statement or proposition that appears self-contradictory or absurd yet may still hold a deeper truth
2. An assertion that seems to contradict itself or common sense but can nonetheless be logically sound
3. A seemingly absurd or self-contradicting claim that, on closer inspection, may reveal a surprising truth

Etymology: In ancient Greek, "paradoxos" described anything that cut against received opinion. It was built from "para," meaning "beside" or "beyond," and "doxa," meaning opinion or belief, which comes from "dokein," "to seem" or "to think." A surprising claim was paradoxical in this sense, with no suggestion that it contradicted itself. The same root appears in other English words. "Orthodoxy" means "right opinion," from "orthos," straight or correct, and "heterodoxy" means "other opinion." Greek writers used the neuter form "paradoxon" as a noun for a strange or unexpected statement, and Latin borrowed it as "paradoxum." English took it from there, so the modern sense of a statement that seems self-contradictory is a narrower use of a word that first meant only "unexpected."

Synonyms: paradox, contradiction, anomaly