Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (2)
1.
(logic) a statement that is necessarily true;
- Example: "the statement `he is brave or he is not brave' is a tautology";
2.
useless repetition;
- Example: "to say that something is `adequate enough' is a tautology";
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tautology \Tau*tol"o*gy\, n. [L. tautologia, Gr. ?: cf. F.
tautologie.] (Rhet.)
A repetition of the same meaning in different words; needless
repetition of an idea in different words or phrases; a
representation of anything as the cause, condition, or
consequence of itself, as in the following lines:
The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers,
And heavily in clouds brings on the day. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Repetition.
Usage: Tautology, Repetition. There may be frequent
repetitions (as in legal instruments) which are
warranted either by necessity or convenience; but
tautology is always a fault, being a sameness of
expression which adds nothing to the sense or the
sound.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
tautology
n 1: (logic) a statement that is necessarily true; "the
statement `he is brave or he is not brave' is a tautology"
2: useless repetition; "to say that something is `adequate
enough' is a tautology"
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):
tautology
A proposition which is always true.
Compare: paradox.
The Linguistic Smarandache Tautologies,
(http://gallup.unm.edu/~smarandache/tautolog.txt).
(1999-07-28)