Logomachy
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Dispute over the meaning of words
- 2 argument about words or the meaning of words wordnet
- 3 A conflict waged only as a battle of words
"He was left over the coffee with Brayne, the hoary Yankee who believed in all religions, and Valentin, the grizzled Frenchman who believed in none. They could argue with each other, but neither could appeal to him. After a time this “progressive” logomachy had reached a crisis of tedium; Lord Galloway got up also and sought the drawing-room."
Example
More examples"He was left over the coffee with Brayne, the hoary Yankee who believed in all religions, and Valentin, the grizzled Frenchman who believed in none. They could argue with each other, but neither could appeal to him. After a time this “progressive” logomachy had reached a crisis of tedium; Lord Galloway got up also and sought the drawing-room."
Etymology
From Latin logomachia, from Ancient Greek λογομαχία (logomakhía).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.