Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In rhetoric: The use of a word or words twice in the same context; repetition, especially for the sake of emphasis. Unnecessary or ill-judged dilogy results in tautology (which see).
  • noun Intentional use of an ambiguous expression; the word or expression so used. Ambiguity in a wider sense is called amphiboly or amphibology.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Rhet.), rare An ambiguous speech; a figure in which a word is used an equivocal sense.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Ambiguous or equivocal speech or discourse.
  • noun Repetition of a word or phrase.
  • noun A series of two related works

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin dilogia, from Ancient Greek διλογία (dilogía, "repetition"), from δίς (dís, "twice") + -λογία (-logía, "-logy")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dilogy.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Intentional ambiguousness. (from Phrontistery)

    May 25, 2008

  • JM is aiming to restrict his dilogy in a diligent and intentional (good) manner.

    October 18, 2010