oxymorus

First attested in the 5th century, from Ancient Greek ὀξύμωρος (oxúmōros), from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp, keen”) + μωρός (mōrós, “dull, stupid”)

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ok.syˈmoː.rus/, [ɔks̠ʏˈmoːrʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ok.siˈmo.rus/, [oksiˈmɔːrus]

oxymōrus (feminine oxymōra, neuter oxymōrum); first/second-declension adjective

1. oxymoronic; of or pertaining to a figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect, as in the following:
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations‎:

     . Cic. Catil. 1.8.21

     de te autem, Catilina, cum quiescunt, probant, cum patiuntur, decernunt, cum tacent, clamant.

     But to you, Catiline, by keeping quiet they approve, by allowing me to speak they vote, by their silence they shout out loud.

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

• Commentary on the Aeniad of Virgil, Serv. A. 7.295 by M. Servius Honoratius, fl. circa 488

"capti potvere capi cum felle dictum est: nam si hoc removeas, erit oxymorum."

• “oxymorus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• oxymorus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette