I think axiom should fit, but according to its official definition, an axiom is a statement that is taken to be true, and as far as I know, a word can’t make an statement by its own.
Words aren’t created by definitions.
Definitions are summaries of the usage of words.
Usage comes first, not definition. Dictionaries, glossaries, etc. are a commentary on usage, attempting to explain to new users of a word what the other people already using that word mean by it.
If someone starts calling some teddy-bears “squee-bears”, they don’t have to have a written-out definition in mind before they do this. Maybe later, if the term “squee-bear” catches on, someone will write down a definition for it, as a summary of how they’ve observed the term being used.
Do any words like this actually exist, though? I’d wager that failure to define the word sufficiently is more of a limitation on the definer’s vocabulary than the word itself.
I certainly can’t imagine a word I couldn’t define. Some words are defined by their interrelationship, and that can seem circular… but since that interrelationship is how we make sense of the world, I don’t particularly see the problem. There’s nothing fundamental about that.
My mind went to things like “of” and “is” but it turns out you can define quite a bit about those words and their usage, in a great many words.
Fundamental is the term used to describe concepts like points in geometry. This seems like an analogous case, so I suggest it for your use here.
I think you can always define a word using other words, without repeating the word in question. Just sometimes you have to take a pretty wide circle and the explanation can end up complicated
Are there any words that dont have synonyms?
Good question. Even “stipulation” has “proviso.”
These, either, neither
All can be explained but the explanation is certainly more complicated than simply understanding the word(s)
The is of identity certainly crosses this line.
Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but you could be interested in “circular definition”.
That shouldn’t be the case. Where that breaks down in more formal contexts is circular definitions. You don’t want to define one word using others that simply reference the defined word in their own definition. All words can be defined using the other available words. At some point it would become circular, but that’s of no consequence in the scope of all words.
What a great question!!
