Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for axiom

axiom

[ ak-see-uhm ]

noun

  1. a self-evident truth that requires no proof.
  2. a universally accepted principle or rule.
  3. Logic, Mathematics. a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it.


axiom

/ ˈæksɪəm /

noun

  1. a generally accepted proposition or principle, sanctioned by experience; maxim
  2. a universally established principle or law that is not a necessary truth

    the axioms of politics

  3. a self-evident statement
  4. logic maths a statement or formula that is stipulated to be true for the purpose of a chain of reasoning: the foundation of a formal deductive system Compare assumption


axiom

/ ăksē-əm /

  1. A principle that is accepted as true without proof. The statement “For every two points P and Q there is a unique line that contains both P and Q ” is an axiom because no other information is given about points or lines, and therefore it cannot be proven.
  2. Also called postulate


axiom

  1. In mathematics , a statement that is unproved but accepted as a basis for other statements, usually because it seems so obvious.


Discover More

Notes

The term axiomatic is used generally to refer to a statement so obvious that it needs no proof.

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of axiom1

First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin axiōma, from Greek: “something worthy,” equivalent to axiō-, variant stem of axioûn “to reckon worthy” + -ma, noun suffix

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of axiom1

C15: from Latin axiōma a principle, from Greek, from axioun to consider worthy, from axios worthy

Discover More

Example Sentences

With an ATP, a programmer can code in all the rules, or axioms, and then ask if a particular conjecture follows those rules.

Gödel’s main maneuver was to map statements about a system of axioms onto statements within the system — that is, onto statements about numbers.

By the first theorem, this set of axioms would then necessarily be incomplete.

We’ve learned that if a set of axioms is consistent, then it is incomplete.

It would mean that there exists a sequence of formulas built from these axioms that proves the formula that means, metamathematically, “This set of axioms is consistent.”

Whether or not Hippocrates ever actually said “First, do no harm,” the axiom is central to medical ethics.

Jakes says he believes in the axiom that the act of forgiveness is not really a gift to others as much as it is a gift to oneself.

It's Tip O'Neill's famous axiom in reverse: now all politics is national.

It is a generally accepted axiom that a public man cannot afford to be modest in these go-ahead days of "boom."

This truth is as old as Homer, and its proofs are as capable of demonstration as a mathematical axiom.

By this, OLeary understood that he was definitely adopted by virtue of the axiom of what was his was theirs.

That was an axiom on which was founded a vigorous war against all capillary adornments.

He starts with the axiom that the whole amount of attention a reader can give at any moment is limited and fixed.

Advertisement

Word of the Day

axolotl

[ak-suh-lot-l ]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


axiologyaxiomatic