amphiboly

am•phib•o•ly

(æmˈfɪb ə li)

n., pl. -lies.

ambiguity of speech, esp. from uncertainty of the grammatical construction rather than of the meaning of the words, as in The Duke yet lives that Henry shall depose.

[1580–90; < Latin amphibolia < Greek, =amphíbol(os) ambiguous, n. derivative of amphibállein to throw round, be in dispute + -ia -y³]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

amphiboly - an ambiguous grammatical construction; e.g., `they are flying planes' can mean either that someone is flying planes or that something is flying planes amphibology ambiguity - an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context