AXIOM • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Axiom

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/ˈæksiəm/ Listen

noun

Axiom n.

(Logic & Math.) A self-evident and necessary truth, or a proposition whose truth is so evident as first sight that no reasoning or demonstration can make it plainer; a proposition which it is necessary to take for granted; as, "The whole is greater than a part;" "A thing can not, at the same time, be and not be."

An established principle in some art or science, which, though not a necessary truth, is universally received; as, the axioms of political economy.

Synonyms: Axiom, Maxim, Aphorism, Adage. An axiom is a self-evident truth which is taken for granted as the basis of reasoning. A maxim is a guiding principle sanctioned by experience, and relating especially to the practical concerns of life. An aphorism is a short sentence pithily expressing some valuable and general truth or sentiment. An adage is a saying of long-established authority and of universal application.

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Etymology of 'Axiom'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Axiom" Quotes from Famous Books

... rejoined the Doctor, testily. "The origin of the muscle, or place where it arises, is the first thing to be described. The use comes afterwards. It is an axiom ...

— Hide and Seek • Wilkie Collins

... not merely in his soul but in the most sensitive part of his soul—his pride. He called himself by the worst epithet of opprobrium: Simpleton! The bold and sudden stroke had now become the fatuous caprice of a damned fool. Had he, at his age, been capable of overlooking the elementary axiom: once a wrong 'un, always a wrong 'un? Had he believed in reclamation? He ...

— The Pretty Lady • Arnold E. Bennett

... his study of the character of Christ, had led him to the near confines of Anabaptism. Expanding his views upon the estates of the church into an axiom, he taught that "charters of perpetual inheritance were impossible;" "that God could not give men civil possessions for ever;"[468] "that property was founded in grace, and derived from God;" and "seeing that forfeiture was the punishment of treason, ...

— The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) • James Anthony Froude

... said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. Can you remember any other little ...

— The Lock And Key Library - Classic Mystery And Detective Stories, Modern English • Various

... and their means of flying, that if an artificial machine were formed with wings in exact imitation of the mechanism of one of those beautiful living machines, and applied in the very same way upon the air, there could be no doubt of its being made to fly, for it is an axiom in philosophy that the same cause will ever produce the same effect.' With this he confesses his inability to produce the said effect through lack of funds, though he clothes this delicately in the phrase 'professional avocations ...

— A History of Aeronautics • E. Charles Vivian

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