Editing Circular definition (section)

{{Short description|Self-referential description of meaning}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2016}}
[[File:Circular definition of circular definition.png|thumb|Circular definition of "circular definition"|alt=Circular definition: a definition that is circular]]
A '''circular definition''' is a type of [[definition]] that uses the [[Terminology|term]](s) being defined as part of the description or assumes that the term(s) being described are already known. There are several kinds of circular definition, and several ways of characterising the term: [[pragmatics|pragmatic]], [[lexicographic]] and [[linguistic]]. Circular definitions are related to [[circular reasoning]] in that they both involve a [[self-referential]] approach.

Circular definitions may be unhelpful if the audience must either already know the meaning of the key term, or if the term to be defined is used in the definition itself.

In linguistics, a circular definition is a description of the meaning of a [[lexeme]] that is constructed using one or more synonymous lexemes that are all defined in terms of each other.<ref name=SIL>{{Cite web |date=2015-12-03 |title=Circular Definition |url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/circular-definition |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=Glossary of Linguistic Terms |language=en}}</ref>