tautologically

Tautologically is an adverb describing speech or reasoning that repeats the same idea in different words, or that is true by virtue of its logical form regardless of content. In everyday use, a statement described as tautological often signals redundancy or circular reasoning, rather than substantive new information. In formal logic, the term refers to a statement form that is true under every possible interpretation.

Etymology and related terms: tautology comes from the Greek taútos, meaning "the same," and logia, meaning "speaking" or "study." The related adjective tautological describes wording or arguments that are repetitive or circular, while pleonasm refers more broadly to unnecessary wordiness.

Usage and examples: in everyday language, phrases such as "it is what it is," "past history," or "true fact" are frequently labeled tautological or pleonastic because they restate the same idea in a redundant way. In logic, a tautology is a statement form that is true in every possible valuation, such as "P or not P" (the law of excluded middle). When someone says a claim is tautological, they may mean it is trivially true or that the argument offers no new information beyond the form itself.

Distinctions: tautology in logic is a precise, accepted concept describing universally valid forms, whereas tautological use in ordinary language often carries a negative connotation of redundancy. The adverb tautologically is used to describe how a statement is framed or how a reasoning process proceeds, rather than to assert that the claim is necessarily false or true for any substantive reason.