ipso facto, girlfriend! (vocab word help!)
November 29, 2011 3:40 PM   Subscribe

is there a word for 'a word that fits its own definition'? for example, sesquipedalian is a big word that by definition means "prone to using big words." is there a formal term for this type of thing?
posted by carlypennylane to Writing & Language (5 answers total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Autological.
posted by threeants at 3:42 PM on November 29, 2011


Best answer: Slightly different question, but previously.
posted by j.edwards at 3:51 PM on November 29, 2011


Response by poster: thank you both! i knew i had seen something similar previously, but couldn't find it.
posted by carlypennylane at 3:58 PM on November 29, 2011


That word always reminds me of the Grelling-Nelson paradox.
posted by klausman at 4:04 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: ha! i loved reading about that, thank you. i was somewhat dissapointed that autological wasn't an obvious example of itself, but i convinced myself that its root words define themselves sufficiently, so, oh well.
posted by carlypennylane at 4:48 PM on November 29, 2011


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