Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

dormitive virtue

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

Etymology:

  • 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".
29 Views
Collection   Edit    

Submitted on July 07, 2010

Translation

Find a translation for the dormitive virtue phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to dormitive virtue

by virtue ofpatience is a virtueVirtue is her own rewardin virtue of whichmake a virtue of necessityin virtue ofpatience is a virtuevirtue is its own rewarddormitive principlemake a virtue of necessity

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this dormitive virtue phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this dormitive virtue definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "dormitive virtue." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/dormitive-virtue_12031>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    That's too good! It works like a ________.
    A jewel
    B dream
    C diamond
    D charm

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ