absurdity
/əbˈsɜːdəti/uhb-SUR-duh-tee
/əbˈsɝdəti/uhb-SUR-duh-tee
Meaningthe quality of being absurd
Common meaning: something absurd
Other meanings: complete unreasonableness
- abaway, off
- surddeaf; mutedLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1817 · scan
- itynoun ending: being so, the quality of
‘away, off’ + ‘deaf’ → absurdity
Journey through time
- Latinsurdus, -a, -um‘deaf’
- Englishabsurd‘wildly unreasonable’
- Englishformed in English from absurdabsurdity‘something absurd’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from absurd + -ity.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), ABSURD, p.5 · scan
Roots
- surdus, -a, -um Latin “deaf; muted”
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