Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Fallacy \Fal"la*cy\ (f[a^]l"l[.a]*s[y^]), n.; pl. Fallacies
(f[a^]l"l[.a]*s[i^]z). [OE. fallace, fallas, deception, F.
fallace, fr. L. fallacia, fr. fallax deceitful, deceptive,
fr. fallere to deceive. See Fail.]
1. Deceptive or false appearance; deceitfulness; that which
misleads the eye or the mind; deception.
[1913 Webster]
Winning by conquest what the first man lost,
By fallacy surprised. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Logic) An argument, or apparent argument, which professes
to be decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it
is not; a sophism.
Syn: Deception; deceit; mistake.
Usage: Fallacy, Sophistry. A fallacy is an argument which
professes to be decisive, but in reality is not;
sophistry is also false reasoning, but of so specious
and subtle a kind as to render it difficult to expose
its fallacy. Many fallacies are obvious, but the evil
of sophistry lies in its consummate art. "Men are apt
to suffer their minds to be misled by fallacies which
gratify their passions. Many persons have obscured and
confounded the nature of things by their wretched
sophistry; though an act be never so sinful, they will
strip it of its guilt." --South.
[1913 Webster]
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