Dictionary

pons asinorum en · NOUN

Etymology

From New Latin pons asinorum, from Latin pōns (“bridge”) + genitive plural of asinus (“donkey”). Literally, “bridge of donkeys”.

Meanings

1. A method for finding the middle term of a syllogism in Aristotlean analytics.
2. An obstacle which will defeat a beginner or foolish person.
3. A proposition in Euclid stating that the angles at the base of an isoceles triangle are equal.
   • [H]e had scarce advanced beyond the Pons Asinorum, when his ardour abated, the test of truth by demonstration did not elevate him to those transports of joy with which his preceptor had regaled his expectation; and before he arrived at the fortieth and seventh proposition, he began to yawn drearily […]. 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

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