Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence.
  • noun A statement that does not follow logically from what preceded it.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In law or logic, an inference or a conclusion which does not follow from the premises.

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

  • (Logic) An inference which does not follow from the premises.

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

  • noun Any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence.
  • noun logical fallacy Any invalid argument in which the conclusion cannot be logically deduced from the premises; a logical fallacy.
  • noun A statement that does not logically follow a statement that came before it.
  • noun humor A kind of pun that uses a change of word, subject, or meaning to make a joke of the listener’s expectation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it
  • noun (logic) a conclusion that does not follow from the premises

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin nōn sequitur, it does not follow : nōn, not + sequitur, third person sing. present tense of sequī, to follow.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Latin phrase nōn sequitur ("it does not follow"), from nōn ("not") + sequitur (third-person form of sequor ("I follow")); in Latin, the phrase sees no use as a noun. Compare sequence, from same root.

Support

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

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

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

  • Latin for "it does not follow."

    October 4, 2008

  • One of the best things to hear a little tiny kid say. You know, when you can get them to play "repeat after me."

    October 28, 2008

  • he is hyper-verbal, spewing non sequiturs

    October 6, 2010

  • @chained_bear: When young, I would always pronounce it "non se-KEE-ter"...

    November 19, 2010

  • *Now wonders what Chained Cub's vocabulary might sound like*

    November 19, 2010

  • It sounds like this: blrbth thrbl? Nmi-nmi-nm.

    November 19, 2010

  • I gather, then, that he hasn't quite mastered "non-sequitur" just yet.

    November 21, 2010

  • It sounds like your latest spawn is an acolyte of Cthulhu, cb!

    November 21, 2010

  • Cuter, though, I'd wager.

    November 21, 2010

  • Fewer tentacles, no doubt.

    November 21, 2010