beg the question
English
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beg the question
Where it comes from
Translating Latin petītiō prīncipiī, itself translating Ancient Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι (tò en arkhēî aiteîsthai, “to assume from the beginning”).
verb begs the question · begging the question · begged the question
- To engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii). The objection is that the argument begs the question, meaning that the premise, that God has all the virtues, assumes the conclusion, that God is benevolent.
- To sidestep or fail to address a question. 1860, Henry Adams, letter, 6 May However I hope we shall do better as we go on and as long as there's no dodging or begging the question on our side, I'm not afraid.
- To raise or prompt a question. Three people were hurt in the fire at the warehouse last night, which begs the question: what were they doing there in the first place?
Translations
Every language
verb to raise or prompt a question
| Español | hacer surgir la pregunta, llevar a preguntarse a |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | zu der Frage drängen, die Frage hervorrufen |
Talk about this word "beg the question." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/beg%20the%20question. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. beg the question. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/beg%20the%20question "beg the question." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/beg%20the%20question.Cite this
@misc{beg_the_question_2026,
title = {beg the question},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/beg%20the%20question},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
