Word of the Day

: April 27, 2011

axiomatic

adjective ak-see-uh-MAT-ik

What It Means

1 : taken for granted : self-evident

2 : based on or involving an axiom or system of axioms

axiomatic in Context

The axiomatic concept of supply and demand dictates that if there is a decrease in the amount of a commodity available and an increase in the public need for it, then the price of that commodity will go up.

"It has long been unspoken but axiomatic among those who live in the stratospheric world of the membership rolls of Augusta National Golf Club: people desperate to join never will, regardless of how hard they may try." -- From an article by Larry Dorman in the New York Times, April 9, 2011

Did You Know?

An axiom is a principle widely accepted on the basis of its intrinsic merit or one regarded as self-evidently true. A statement that is axiomatic therefore, is one against which few people would argue. "Axiomatic" entered English from Middle Greek "axiōmatikos," and "axiom" derived via Latin from Greek "axiōma" ("something worthy") and "axios" ("worthy"). The word "axiom" can also refer to a statement accepted as true as the basis for argument or inference. Such axioms are often employed in discussions of philosophy, as well as in mathematics and geometry (where they are sometimes called postulates).