antinomy
Pronunciation: /anˈtinəmē/
noun (plural antinomies)
a contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox.
Origin:
late 16th century (in the sense 'a conflict between two laws'): from Latin antinomia, from Greek, from anti 'against' + nomos 'law'
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It is something of an
antinomy that I have many times used "paradox" in conversation, but until this morning, had not seen or heard the term
antinomy. I don't draw a significant conclusion from this except to say "It's Greek to me." Is it that my primary language, English, is more often derived from Latin instead of Greek?
Did Latin spread into our language base by conquest during the Roman Empire?
A tiny bit of "research" lead me to notice that the Greek letters for English P and R are Π and Ρ which are also in the Cyrillic alphabet. So maybe Greek influence spread northeast while Latin influence spread northwest. Do east European and Russian people say
antinomy more often than "paradox"?
[ Just to confirm my first reading this morning of
antinomy was confused by my glance-reading of "antimony" which has no apparent etymological connection. ]
Words are a game. Sometimes I play alone, but I encourage YOU to play, too.
