dormitive virtue
dormitive virtue · dormitive virtues
A type of tautology in which an item is explained in terms of the item itself, only…A type of tautology in which an item is explained in terms of the item itself, only put in different (usually more abstract) words.
Meaning
1 senses(idiomatic, rhetoric)A type of tautology in which an item is explained in terms of the item itself, only put in different (usually more abstract) words.
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
A calque translation of Latin, virtus dormitiva, coined by Molière in The Imaginary InvaliA calque translation of Latin, virtus dormitiva, coined by Molière in The Imaginary Invalid. In the play, he lampoons a group of physicians providing an explanation in macaronic Latin of the sleep-inducing properties of opium as stemming from its "virtus dormitiva".
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Forms
plural: dormitive virtues| Singular | dormitive virtue |
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| Plural | dormitive virtues |
regular