Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun rhetoric A form of
hyperbole that usesexaggeration somagnified as to expressimpossibility
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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For [Greek: philosophon plaethos adynaton einai], as your friend Plato has said, and you should not forget it.
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Christians maintained that one proof of divinity was the ability to break the immutability of the laws of nature and to accomplish the impossible, the adynaton.
NATURE GEORGE BOAS 1968
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{Hêrophilos de en tô Diaitêtikô kai sophian phêsin anepideikton kai technên adêlon kai ischyn anagôniston kai plouton achreion kai logon adynaton, hygieias apousês.}
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Two principles emerge as governing Greek thought -- God must have the first place, ou gar parergou dei poieisthai ton theon, -- and yet the nearer we approach Him, the less can we express Him, theon eurein te ergon, euronta de ekpherein en pollois adynaton (Pythagoras, Plato).
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 11: New Mexico-Philip 1840-1916 1913
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Even if a really true philosophy took the place of religion, at least nine-tenths of mankind would only accept it on authority, so that it would be again a matter of belief; for Plato’s [Greek: philosophon plaethos adynaton einai] will always hold good.
jmjarmstrong commented on the word adynaton
JM knows that exaggerating an actual event by reference to something impossible is not part of his adynaton tendencies.
June 13, 2010
vendingmachine commented on the word adynaton
For ruzuzu:
Kad pūcei aste ziedēs ("When an owl's tail blooms")
September 21, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the word adynaton
Paldies, vendingmachine! I hadn't heard that one before--though it fits perfectly with bird's milk and blooming fern.
September 24, 2018