aporia

See also: aporía and aporią

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aporia, from Ancient Greek ἀπορία (aporía), from ἄπορος (áporos, “impassable”), from ἀ- (a-, “a-”) + πόρος (póros, “passage”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈpɔːɹɪə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈpɔɹiə/

Noun

Examples (rhetoric)
But, how can I describe the beauty of the desert?

aporia (plural aporias)

1. (rhetoric) An expression of deliberation with oneself regarding uncertainty or doubt as to how to proceed.
   • [1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, →OCLC, page 55:

     Aporia oft in doubt and fear will rest,
     And reason with itself what may be best.]

   • 2012, Andy Martin, “Text Messenger”, in Literary Review, section 404:

     Meanings are superposed in an aporia – not ‘either/or’, but ‘and/and’.

   • 2016, Ian McEwan, Nutshell, Vintage, page 9:

     What they intend sickens and frightens them, and they can never speak of it directly. Instead, wrapped in whispers are ellipses, euphemisms, mumbled aporia followed by throat-clearing and a brisk change of subject.

2. (philosophy, post-structuralism) An insoluble contradiction, especially in a text's meaning; a logical impasse suggested by a text or speaker.

   Synonyms: impasse, paradox, contradiction

   • 2009, Mark Fisher, chapter 3, in Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, Zero Books, →ISBN, page 19:

     But Green issues are already a contested zone, already a site where politicization is being fought for. In what follows, I want to stress two other aporias in capitalist realism, which are not yet politicized to anything like the same degree. The first is mental health.

   • 2014 May 27, Alison Flood, quoting Eva Illouz, “Fifty Shades of Grey is really a self-help book, says academic”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     EL James's multimillion selling series of novels ‘encodes the aporias of heterosexual relationships’, according to Professor Eva Illouz[.]

   • 2018, David Auerbach, Bitwise: A Life in Code‎^[2], Vintage, →ISBN:

     Plato believed that the core impulse to philosophizing lies in aporia, the point at which, in struggling to understand a phenomenon or answer a question, we come up against a seemingly irresolvable contradiction.

Derived terms

• aporic

 

Translations

expression of doubt

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: twijfel (nl), onzekerheid (nl)
• Finnish: aporia
• Greek: απορία (el) f (aporía)
• Indonesian: aporia
• Polish: aporia (pl) f
• Portuguese: aporia (pt) f

contradiction, logical impasse

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: ristiriita (fi), aporia
• German: Aporie (de) f
• Hebrew: אפוריה
• Polish: aporia (pl) f
• Portuguese: aporia (pt) f
• Russian: апори́я (ru) f (aporíja)
• Spanish: aporía (es) f

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English aporia), ultimately from Latin aporia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑporiɑ/, [ˈɑ̝po̞ˌriɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -iɑ
• Hyphenation^(key): apo‧ria

Noun

aporia

1. aporia

Declension

Inflection of aporia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		aporia	aporiat
genitive		aporian	aporioiden aporioitten
partitive		aporiaa	aporioita
illative		aporiaan	aporioihin
		singular	plural
nominative		aporia	aporiat
accusative	nom.	aporia	aporiat
	gen.	aporian
genitive		aporian	aporioiden aporioitten aporiain rare
partitive		aporiaa	aporioita
inessive		aporiassa	aporioissa
elative		aporiasta	aporioista
illative		aporiaan	aporioihin
adessive		aporialla	aporioilla
ablative		aporialta	aporioilta
allative		aporialle	aporioille
essive		aporiana	aporioina
translative		aporiaksi	aporioiksi
abessive		aporiatta	aporioitta
instructive		—	aporioin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of aporia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative aporiani aporiani accusative nom. aporiani aporiani gen. aporiani genitive aporiani aporioideni aporioitteni aporiaini rare partitive aporiaani aporioitani inessive aporiassani aporioissani elative aporiastani aporioistani illative aporiaani aporioihini adessive aporiallani aporioillani ablative aporialtani aporioiltani allative aporialleni aporioilleni essive aporianani aporioinani translative aporiakseni aporioikseni abessive aporiattani aporioittani instructive — — comitative — aporioineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative aporiasi aporiasi accusative nom. aporiasi aporiasi gen. aporiasi genitive aporiasi aporioidesi aporioittesi aporiaisi rare partitive aporiaasi aporioitasi inessive aporiassasi aporioissasi elative aporiastasi aporioistasi illative aporiaasi aporioihisi adessive aporiallasi aporioillasi ablative aporialtasi aporioiltasi allative aporiallesi aporioillesi essive aporianasi aporioinasi translative aporiaksesi aporioiksesi abessive aporiattasi aporioittasi instructive — — comitative — aporioinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative aporiamme aporiamme accusative nom. aporiamme aporiamme gen. aporiamme genitive aporiamme aporioidemme aporioittemme aporiaimme rare partitive aporiaamme aporioitamme inessive aporiassamme aporioissamme elative aporiastamme aporioistamme illative aporiaamme aporioihimme adessive aporiallamme aporioillamme ablative aporialtamme aporioiltamme allative aporiallemme aporioillemme essive aporianamme aporioinamme translative aporiaksemme aporioiksemme abessive aporiattamme aporioittamme instructive — — comitative — aporioinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative aporianne aporianne accusative nom. aporianne aporianne gen. aporianne genitive aporianne aporioidenne aporioittenne aporiainne rare partitive aporiaanne aporioitanne inessive aporiassanne aporioissanne elative aporiastanne aporioistanne illative aporiaanne aporioihinne adessive aporiallanne aporioillanne ablative aporialtanne aporioiltanne allative aporiallenne aporioillenne essive aporiananne aporioinanne translative aporiaksenne aporioiksenne abessive aporiattanne aporioittanne instructive — — comitative — aporioinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative aporiansa aporiansa accusative nom. aporiansa aporiansa gen. aporiansa genitive aporiansa aporioidensa aporioittensa aporiainsa rare partitive aporiaansa aporioitaan aporioitansa inessive aporiassaan aporiassansa aporioissaan aporioissansa elative aporiastaan aporiastansa aporioistaan aporioistansa illative aporiaansa aporioihinsa adessive aporiallaan aporiallansa aporioillaan aporioillansa ablative aporialtaan aporialtansa aporioiltaan aporioiltansa allative aporialleen aporiallensa aporioilleen aporioillensa essive aporianaan aporianansa aporioinaan aporioinansa translative aporiakseen aporiaksensa aporioikseen aporioiksensa abessive aporiattaan aporiattansa aporioittaan aporioittansa instructive — — comitative — aporioineen aporioinensa

Galician

Verb

aporia

1. (reintegrationist norm) first/third-person singular conditional of apor

Indonesian

Etymology

Internationalism, learned borrowing from Latin aporia, from Ancient Greek ἀπορία (aporía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.po.ˈri.a/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: a‧po‧ri‧a

Noun

aporia (plural aporia-aporia, first-person possessive aporiaku, second-person possessive aporiamu, third-person possessive aporianya)

1. (philosophy, rhetoric) aporia

Further reading

• “aporia” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek.

Noun

aporia f (plural aporie)

1. aporia

Anagrams

• rapaio

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀπορία (aporía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈpɔ.rja/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔrja
• Syllabification: a‧po‧ria

Noun

aporia f

1. (philosophy) aporia
2. (rhetoric) aporia

Declension

Declension of aporia

	singular
nominative	aporia
genitive	aporii
dative	aporii
accusative	aporię
instrumental	aporią
locative	aporii
vocative	aporio

Derived terms

adjective

• aporetyczny

 

nouns

• aporetyk
• aporetyka

 

Further reading

• aporia in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Verb

aporia

1. first/third-person singular conditional of apor