amphibology
noun
- the use of ambiguous phrases or such as can be construed in two senses
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /amfɪˈbɒlədʒi/
noun
Etymology: From French amphibologie, from late Latin amphibologia, earlier amphibolia, from Ancient Greek ἀμφιβολία (amphibolía, “ambiguity”).
- Amphiboly.
“In Athens men learn'd […] to resolve a sophisticall argument, and to confound the imposture and amphibologie of words, captiously enterlaced together […]”
“[T]he fallacie of Æquivocation and Amphibologie, […] conclude from the ambiguity of ſome vvord, or the ambiguous ſintaxis of many put together.”