tȯˈtäləjē, -ji noun
( -es )
Etymology: Late Latin tautologia, from Greek, from tautologos + -ia -y
1.
a.
(1) : needless or meaningless repetition in close succession of an idea, statement, or word : pleonasm , redundancy
a certain tautology in describing any act of society as social — Foreign Affairs
(2) : an instance of such repetition
the phrase “a beginner who has just started” is a tautology
a speech full of tautologies
b. : a tautologous statement
2. : repetition of an act or experience
the tautology of two drunken brawls in the same scene