dormitive virtue

短语

词形变化

dormitive virtues 复数 dormitive virtues

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    A type of tautology in which an item is explained in terms of the item itself, only put in different (usually more abstract) words.

    习语 语言学 数学 哲学

词源

A calque translation of Latin, virtus dormitiva, coined by Molière in The Imaginary Invalid. In the play, he lampoons a group of physicians providing an explanation in macaronic Latin of the sleep-inducing properties of opium as stemming from its "virtus dormitiva".

来源：wiktionary