absurd (adj.)
"plainly illogical," 1550s, from French absurde (16c.), from Latin absurdus "out of tune, discordant;" figuratively "incongruous, foolish, silly, senseless," from ab- "off, away from," here perhaps an intensive prefix, + surdus "dull, deaf, mute," which is possibly (Watkins) from an imitative PIE root meaning "to buzz, whisper" (see susurration). The basic sense could be "out of tune."
But de Vaan writes, "Since 'deaf' often has two semantic sides, viz. 'who cannot hear' and 'who is not heard,' ab-surdus can be explained as 'which is unheard of' ..." The modern English sense is the Latin figurative one, perhaps "out of harmony with reason or propriety." Related: Absurdly; absurdness. Theater of the absurd is attested by 1961.
Trends of absurd
updated on March 13, 2024
Dictionary entries near absurd
abstract
abstracted
abstraction
abstractly
abstruse
absurd
absurdity
abuilding
abundance
abundant
abuse
