axiom
pronunciation
How to pronounce axiom in British English:
UK [ˈæksiəm]
How to pronounce axiom in American English:
US [ˈæksiəm]
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- Noun:
- a saying that widely accepted on its own merits
- (logic) a proposition that is not susceptible of proof or disproof; its truth is assumed to be self-evident
Word Origin
- axiom (n.)
- late 15c., from Middle French axiome, from Latin axioma, from Greek axioma "authority," literally "that which is thought worthy or fit," from axioun "to think worthy," from axios "worthy, worth, of like value, weighing as much," from PIE adjective *ag-ty-o- "weighty," from root *ag- "to drive, draw, move" (see act (n.)). Axioms in philosophy are not axioms until they are proved upon our pulses. [Keats, letter, May 3, 1818]
Example
- 1. Eventually it transpired that the axiom was optional .
- 2. Another axiom is that voters punish governments that impose tough austerity programmes .
- 3. The " sex is bad " axiom predominates in society and science .
- 4. This is of course a private school , and proof of the fully transatlantic axiom that the more you pay for school , the less time your kids actually spend in it .
- 5. It is an axiom of internet dating that everyone allegedly has a sense of humor , even if evidence of it is infrequently on display .