aporia[ə pôr′ē ə]
- a difficulty, as in a philosophical or literary text, caused by an indeterminacy of meaning for which no resolution seems possible
- a condition of uncertainty or skeptical doubt resulting from this
Origin of aporiaClassical Latin doubt ; from Classical Greek perplexity ; from aporos, impassable ; from a-, not + poros, passage: see pore
- A figure of speech in which the speaker expresses or purports to be in doubt about a question.
- An insoluble contradiction or paradox in a text's meanings.
Origin of aporiaGreek aporiā, difficulty of passing, from aporos, impassable : a-, without; see a–1 + poros, passage; see per-2 in Indo-European roots.
From Latin aporia, from Ancient Greek ἀπορία (aporia), from ἄπορος (aporos, “impassable”), from ἀ- (a-, “a-”) + πόρος (poros, “passage”).