Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Syllogism

Syl′lo·gism, n. [OE. silogisme, OF. silogime, sillogisme, F. syllogisme, L. syllogismus, Gr. συλλογισμός a reckoning all together, a reasoning, syllogism, fr. συλλογίζεσθαι to reckon all together, to bring at once before the mind, to infer, conclude; σύν with, together + λογίζεσθαι to reckon, to conclude by reasoning. See Syn-, and Logistic, Logic.] (Logic) The regular logical form of every argument, consisting of three propositions, of which the first two are called the premises, and the last, the conclusion. The conclusion necessarily follows from the premises; so that, if these are true, the conclusion must be true, and the argument amounts to demonstration; as in the following example:

Every virtue is laudable; Kindness is a virtue; Therefore kindness is laudable.

These propositions are denominated respectively the major premise, the minor premise, and the conclusion.

☞ If the premises are not true and the syllogism is regular, the reasoning is valid, and the conclusion, whether true or false, is correctly derived.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.