• apodictic •
Pronunciation: æp-ê-dik-tik • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Unquestionably true, established beyond the shadow of a doubt, incontrovertibly demonstrated, incontestable, axiomatic.
Notes: This word is spelled and pronounced less commonly apodeictic. Should you need an extra syllable some time, you may add the suffix -al, apodictical, but you must add it in the adverbial form: apodictically.
In Play: The proof of a claim may be very obvious: "No one argued with Noah Zarque's apodictic assertion, 'You cannot call me young anymore.'" This word, if not topical, is at least relevant to current US politics: "The majority of Republicans seem to take ex-President Trump's claim that he won the 2020 election as apodictic."
Word History: Today's Good Word was borrowed from Latin apodicticus, borrowed from Greek apodeiktikos, the verbal adjective of apodeiknynai "to show off, demonstrate, prove". The alternative spelling mentioned above was borrowed directly from the Greek. The Greek word comprises apo "off, away" + deiknynai "to show". Apo was inherited directly from Proto-Indo-European apo "off, away", source also of English of and off, Latin ab "(away) from", German ab "off (of), down" and Russian po "along, according to". Latin created its dicere "to speak" out of the same PIE deik- "to show" that Greek built is word on. It worked its way through the Germanic line to teach and token in English and zeigen "to show" and Zeichen "sign" in German. (This word was used back in 2010 by Tony Bowden of London in a discussion with Rodger Collins about "logical necessity".)
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