English Dictionary

heterological

adj

(grammar) Of an adjective, not describing itself. / (philosophy) Not true of itself. / (biology) Having the potential to develop into different forms. / Supporting or attracted to otherness.

The word 'heterological' is an example of a heterological adjective.

意味（1）

(grammar) Of an adjective, not describing itself.

A paradox arises when we ask, Is the word 'heterological' heterological. If it is, it is not. If it is not, it is.

意味（2）

(philosophy) Not true of itself.

A further instance of the uncertainty of Prof. Bergmann's views on the subject of negation, is the distinction (considered by him as at least supposahle) between nicht-richtig and unrichtig (§21,5.). This is done, of course, in order to put a heterological meaning into his Axiom of Excluded Middle,

意味（3）

(biology) Having the potential to develop into different forms.

It is double and heterological in the middle organs or passages.

意味（4）

Supporting or attracted to otherness.

That is why it could only have a multitude of names, could only be expressed by the lexical extravagance to which it inevitably leads heterological practice and, as such, does not escape the substitutive discourse. Eroticism is just one of the names of heterological impulse at work — Incomplete through the metonymic effect of the copula — throughout The Caesarean Incomplete.

意味（5）

Having or supporting multiple interpretations.

Indeed, Godzich has situated de Certeau in a heterological tradition, a scholarly tradition in opposition to the hegemonical tradition which has dominated western intellectual thinking. Scholars in the heterological tradition relativise scholarship and point to the constraints enforced by the contemporary social context on the production of truth.