Dictionary

argumentum ad populum en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• ärgyo͞omĕnʹtəm ăd pŏʹpyo͝oləm (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ɑːɡjuːˈmɛntəm æd ˈpɒpjʊləm/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Latin: argūmentum (“argument”, “proof”) + ad (“to”, “toward”) + populum (accusative singular of populus, “people”, “nation”) ≈ “appeal to the people”

Meanings

1. (rhetoric) A fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it; it alleges that “if many believe so, it is so”.
   • The appeals to the public were also expressed differently: that is to say, much less by fallacious argumenta ad populum that played on the fears of the addressees, than by an appeal to rational insights, humanity and democracy. 2001, Martin Reisigl, Ruth Wodak, Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism, page 166:

Forms

Synonyms

argumentum ad numerum (“if many believe so, it is so”) · bandwagon fallacy (“if many believe so, it is so”)

Translations (1)

tl katwirang umaantig sa sambayanan (fallacious argument)