Etymology

modus tollens

Today it means: A valid form of argument in which the consequent of a conditional proposition is denied, thus implying the denial of the antecedent. Modus tollens has this form Full definition →

Latin modus tollendō tollēns
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived frommodus tollendō tollēns“the mode where the denying denies”
  2. English todaymodus tollens

From Latin modus tollendō tollēns (“the mode where the denying denies”), from modus (“mode”) and forms of tollō (“to take away”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.