Etymologically
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absurdity

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /əbˈsɜːd.ɪ.ti/[1]
  • US: /æbˈsɝd.ɪ.ti/, /æbˈzɝd.ɪ.ti/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English absurdite,[2][3][4] first borrowed from Late Latin absurditās (“dissonance”)[5][3][6] and later also borrowed from Middle French absurdité.[5][4][7] The Late Latin noun, recorded in the sense "dissonance" from the 4th century and "perversity" from the 5th, is formed from absurdus (“out of tune; absurd”) and the suffix -tās.[5][3] Absurdus is formed from ab- and surdus (“deaf, dull”).[5][3] The French noun is recorded from 1371–5 for an absurd act or statement.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lack of harmony; dissonance, in music: about 1429, in the Mirour of Mans Saluacioune, where the harp of David and the music of Jubal would be "absurditee" beside a heavenly harmony.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The word came in with the literal musical sense of its Latin source, which died out in the 17th century.[5][8] The figurative sense, something absurd, an unreasonable act or practice or a statement against reason, appears in the Coventry Leet Book (before 1525),[5][2] and the abstract sense, the quality of being unreasonable or ridiculous, in Thomas More (1529).[5] Johnson (1755) gave the abstract sense first and noted that only the concrete sense, "that which is absurd", takes a plural.[9] Merriam-Webster also records a logical sense, a contradiction.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1429 – lack of harmony, dissonance (obsolete by 1655).[5]
  • before 1525 – an absurd thing; an unreasonable action or practice.[5][2]
  • 1529 – the quality of being absurd, in Thomas More.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The quality or state of being absurd; ridiculous or wholly unreasonable folly: The absurdity of the plan became clear at the first meeting.[10][5][8]
  2. Something absurd; an absurd act, statement or custom.[10][5]
  3. In logic, a contradiction.[10]
  4. (obsolete, c. 1429–1655) Dissonance; lack of harmony.[5][8][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster