What is "enthymeme"

Enthymeme \En"thy*meme\, n. [Gr. ?, fr. ? to keep in mind, consider; ? in + ? mind, soul.] (Logic) An argument consisting of only two propositions, an antecedent and consequent deduced from it; a syllogism with one premise omitted; as, We are dependent; therefore we should be humble. Here the major proposition is suppressed. The complete syllogism would be, Dependent creatures should be humble; we are dependent creatures; therefore we should be humble.

"a syllogism in which one premise is omitted," in Aristotle, "an inference from likelihoods and signs," 1580s, from Latin enthymema, from Greek enthymema "thought, argument, piece of reasoning," from enthymesthai "to think, consider," literally "to keep in mind, take to heart," from en "in" (see en- (2)) + thymos "mind" (see fume (n.)). Related: Enthymematic.

n. 1 A by and large statement, a maxim, a less-than-100% argument. 2 (context logic English) A syllogism with a required but unstated assumption.

An enthymeme (, enthumēma) is a rhetorical syllogism (a three-part deductive argument) used in oratorical practice. Originally theorized by Aristotle, there are four types of enthymeme, at least two of which are described in Aristotle's work.

Aristotle referred to the enthymeme as "the body of proof", "the strongest of rhetorical proofs...a kind of syllogism" (Rhetoric I.I.3,11). He considered it to be one of two kinds of proof, the other of which was the paradeigma. Maxims, Aristotle thought to be a derivative of enthymemes. (Rhetoric II.XX.1)