Amphibology

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Amphibology \Am`phi*bol"o*gy\ ([a^]m`f[i^]*b[-o]l"[-o]*j[y^]),
     n.; pl. {Amphibologies} (-j[i^]z). [L. amphibologia, for
     amphibolia, fr. Gr. 'amfiboli`a, with the ending -logia as if
     fr. Gr. 'amfi`bolos ambiguous + lo`gos speech: cf. F.
     amphibologie. See {Amphiboly}.]
     A phrase, discourse, or proposition, susceptible of two


     interpretations; and hence, of uncertain meaning. It differs
     from equivocation, which arises from the twofold sense of a
     single term.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  amphibology
       n : an ambiguous grammatical construction; e.g., `they are
           flying planes' can mean either that someone is flying
           planes or that something is flying planes [syn: {amphiboly}]