beg the question

verb

To engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii).

“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?”

OriginLatin petītiō prīncipiī ← Ancient Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbbeg the question (third-person singular simple present begs the question, present participle begging the question, simple past and past participle begged the question)

present singular third person begs the question · participle present begging the question · participle past begged the question · past begged the question

  1. human sciencesTo 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.

    1994, D. N. Walton, “Begging the question as a pragmatic fallacy.”, in Synthese, volume 100, number 1
  2. 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.

  3. proscribedsometimesTo 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?

    1 more example

    Invariably, the principal object is to improve air quality. But those constraints beg the question: why has no city followed Nottingham's example of a workplace parking levy, which has generated about £10 million a year to finance the city's tram system?

    2024 March 6, Steve Edwards discusses with Anthony Lambert, “The bedrock of urban renewal”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 35

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekτὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι“to assume from the beginning”
  2. Latinpetītiō prīncipiī
  3. Englishbeg the question

Translating Latin petītiō prīncipiī, itself translating Ancient Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι (tò en arkhēî aiteîsthai, “to assume from the beginning”).

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish olettaa johtopäätös todeksi, esittää kehäpäätelmä
  • olettaa johtopäätös todeksito engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii)
  • esittää kehäpäätelmäto engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii)
  • sivuuttaa kysymysto sidestep or fail to address a question
  • herättää kysymysto raise or prompt a question
German zu der Frage drängen, die Frage hervorrufen
  • zu der Frage drängento raise or prompt a question
  • die Frage hervorrufento raise or prompt a question
Hungarian (eleve) bizonyítottnak/nyilvánvalónak/adottnak vesz/tekint, felveti a kérdést / annak a kérdését (azt)
  • (eleve) bizonyítottnak/nyilvánvalónak/adottnak vesz/tekintto sidestep or fail to address a question
  • felveti a kérdést / annak a kérdését (azt)to raise or prompt a question
Spanish hacer surgir la pregunta, llevar a preguntarse a
  • hacer surgir la preguntato raise or prompt a question
  • llevar a preguntarse ato raise or prompt a question
Cite this entry
APA

beg the question. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beg%20the%20question

MLA

“beg the question.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beg%20the%20question. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beg the question,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beg%20the%20question.

Source: beg the question on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.