Word of the Day

: September 28, 2007

syncategorematic

adjective sin-kat-uh-gor-uh-MAT-ik

What It Means

: forming a meaningful expression only in conjunction with a denotative expression (as a content word)

syncategorematic in Context

"In any language, there will be what are called syncategorematic words, such as prepositions and articles," explained Dr. Lewis.

Did You Know?

In ancient Greek logic, "katēgorēma" referred to something that was affirmed or denied about the subject in a proposition. For instance, in "the paper is white," "whiteness" would be the "katēgorēma." Seventeenth-century logicians extended this concept, which they called "categorem," to cover the subject of the proposition as well. So, in the proposition "All men are mortal," "mortality" is a categorem and so is "man." But what about "all"? Words like "all" that signify quantity (as well as words that function as adverbs, prepositions, or conjunctions) are syncategoremata -- that is, they are words that have meaning in propositions only when used in conjunction "with" other words. ("Syn-" means "with.")