ENTHYMEME

in syllogistic, or traditional, logic, name of a syllogistic argument that is incompletely stated. In the argument All insects have six legs; therefore, all wasps have six legs, the minor premise, All wasps are insects, is suppressed. Any one of the propositions may be omittedeven the conclusion; but in general it is the one that comes most naturally to the mind. Often in rhetorical language the deliberate omission of one of the propositions has a dramatic effect. This use of the word differs from Aristotle's original application of it (in his Prior Analytics, ii, 27) to a rhetorical syllogism (employed for persuasion instead of instruction) based on probabilities or signs; i.e., on propositions that are generally valid or on particular facts that may be held to justify a general principle or another particular fact.