Roget's Thesaurus Part 53

-- Section III. MATERIALS FOR REASONING --

#467. Evidence [On one side.] -- N. evidence; facts, premises, data, praecognita[Lat], grounds.

indication &c. 550; criterion &c. (test) 463.

testimony, testification[obs3], expert testimony; attestation; deposition &c. (affirmation) 535; examination.

admission &c. (a.s.sent) 488; authority, warrant, credential, diploma, voucher, certificate, doquet[obs3], docket; testamur[obs3]; record &c. 551; doc.u.ment; pi ce justificative[obs3]; deed, warranty &c. (security) 771; signature, seal &c. (identification) 550; exhibit, material evidence, objective evidence.

witness, indicator, hostile witness; eyewitness, earwitness, material witness, state's evidence; deponent; sponsor; cojuror[obs3].

oral evidence, doc.u.mentary evidence, hearsay evidence, external evidence, extrinsic evidence, internal evidence, intrinsic evidence, circ.u.mstantial evidence, c.u.mulative evidence, ex parte evidence[Lat], presumptive evidence, collateral evidence, constructive evidence; proof &c.

(demonstration) 478; evidence in chief.

secondary evidence; confirmation, corroboration, support; ratification &c. (a.s.sent) 488; authentication; compurgation[obs3], wager of law, comprobation .

citation, reference; legal research, literature search (experiment) 463.

V. be evidence &c. n.; evince, show, betoken, tell of; indicate &c.

(denote) 550; imply, involve, argue, bespeak, breathe.

have weight, carry weight; tell, speak volumes; speak for itself &c.

(manifest) 525.

rest upon, depend upon; repose on.

bear witness &c. n.; give evidence &c. n.; testify, depose, witness, vouch for; sign, seal, undersign[obs3], set one's hand and seal, sign and seal, deliver as one's act and deed, certify, attest; acknowledge &c.

(a.s.sent) 488.

[provide conclusive evidence] make absolute, confirm, prove (demonstrate) 478.

[add further evidence] indorse, countersign, corroborate, support, ratify, bear out, uphold, warrant.

adduce, attest, cite, quote; refer to, appeal to; call, call to witness; bring forward, bring into court; allege, plead; produce witnesses, confront witnesses.

place into evidence, mark into evidence.

[obtain evidence] collect evidence, bring together evidence, rake up evidence; experiment &c. 463.

have a case, make out a case; establish, authenticate, substantiate, verify, make good, quote chapter and verse; bring home to, bring to book.

Adj. showing &c. v.; indicative, indicatory; deducible &c. 478; grounded on, founded on, based on; corroborative, confirmatory.

Adv. by inference; according to, witness, a fortiori; still more, still less; raison de plus[Fr]; in corroboration &c. n. of; valeat quantum[Lat]; under seal, under one's hand and seal.

Phr. dictum de dicto[Lat]; mise en evidence[Fr.].

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#468. [Evidence on the other side, on the other hand.] Counter Evidence. -- N. counter evidence; evidence on the other side, evidence on the other hand; conflicting evidence, contradictory evidence, opposing evidence; disproof, refutation &c. 479; negation &c. 536.

plea &c. 617; vindication &c. 937 counter protest; "tu quoque"

argument; other side of the shield, other side of the coin, reverse of the shield.

V. countervail, oppose; mitigate against; rebut &c. (refute) 479; subvert &c. (destroy) 162; cheek, weaken; contravene; contradict &c. (deny) 536; tell the other side of the story, tell another story, turn the scale, alter the case; turn the tables; cut both ways; prove a negative.

audire alteram partem[Lat].

Adj. countervailing &c. v.; contradictory.

unattested, unauthenticated, unsupported by evidence; supposit.i.tious.

Adv. on the contrary, per contra.

#469. Qualification. -- N. qualification, limitation, modification, coloring.

allowance, grains of allowance, consideration, extenuating circ.u.mstances; mitigation.

condition, proviso, prerequisite, contingency, stipulation, provision, specification, sine qua non[Lat]; catch, string, strings attached; exemption; exception, escape clause, salvo, saving clause; discount &c.

813; restriction; fine print.

V. qualify, limit, modify, leaven, give a color to, introduce new conditions, narrow, temper.

waffle, quibble, hem and haw (be uncertain) 475; equivocate (sophistry) 477.

depend, depend on, be contingent on (effect) 154.

allow for, make allowance for; admit exceptions, take into account; modulate.

moderate, temper, season, leaven.

take exception.

Adj. qualifying &c. v.; qualified, conditioned, restricted, hedged; conditional; exceptional &c. (unconformable) 83.

hypothetical &c. (supposed) 514; contingent &c. (uncertain) 475.

Adv. provided, provided that, provided always; if, unless, but, yet; according as; conditionally, admitting, supposing; on the supposition of &c. (theoretically) 514; with the understanding, even, although, though, for all that, after all, at all events.

approximately &c. 197, 17; in a limited degree (smallness) 32; somewhat, sort of, something like that, to a certain extent, to a degree, in a sense, so to speak.

with grains of allowance, c.u.m grano salis[Latin: with a grain of salt]; exceptis excipiendis[Lat]; wind and weather permitting; if possible &c. 470.

subject to, conditioned upon; with this proviso &c. n.

Phr. "if the good lord is willing and the creeks don't rise"; catch-22.

-- Degrees of Evidence --

#470. Possibility. -- N. possibility, potentiality; what may be, what is possible &c. adj.; compatibility &c. (agreement) 23.

practicability, feasibility; practicableness &c. adj.

contingency, chance &c. 156.

V. be possible &c. adj.; stand a chance; admit of, bear.

render possible &c. adj.; put in the way of.

Adj. possible; in the cards, on the dice; in posse, within the bounds of possibility, conceivable, credible; compatible &c. 23; likely.

practicable, feasible, performable, achievable; within reach, within measurable distance; accessible, superable[obs3], surmountable; attainable, obtainable; contingent &c. (doubtful) 475, (effect) 154.

barely possible, marginally possible, just possible; possible but improbably, (improbable) 473; theoretically possible.

Adv. possibly, by possibility; perhaps, perchance, peradventure; maybe, may be, haply, mayhap.

if possible, wind and weather permitting, G.o.d willing, Deo volente[Lat], D. V.; as luck may have it.

Phr. misericordia Domini inter pontem et fontent[Lat]; "the glories of the Possible are ours" [B. Taylor]; anything is possible; in theory possible, but in practise unlikely.

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#471. Impossibility. -- N. impossibility &c. adj.; what cannot, what can never be; sour grapes; hopelessness &c. 859.

V. be impossible &c. adj.; have no chance whatever.

attempt impossibilities; square the circle, wash a blackamoor white; skin a flint; make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, make bricks without straw; have nothing to go upon; weave a rope of sand, build castles in the air, prendre la lune avec les dents[Fr], extract sunbeams from cuc.u.mbers, set the Thames on fire, milk a he-goat into a sieve, catch a weasel asleep, rompre l'anguille au genou[Fr], be in two places at once.

Adj. impossible; not possible &c. 470; absurd, contrary to reason; unlikely; unreasonable &c. 477; incredible &c. 485; beyond the bounds of reason, beyond the bounds of possibility, beyond the realm of possibility; from which reason recoils; visionary; inconceivable &c. (improbable) 473; prodigious &c. (wonderful) 870; unimaginable, inimaginable[obs3]; unthinkable.

impracticable unachievable; unfeasible, infeasible; insuperable; unsurmountable[obs3], insurmountable; unattainable, un.o.btainable; out of reach, out of the question; not to be had, not to be thought of; beyond control; desperate &c. (hopeless) 859; incompatible &c. 24; inaccessible, uncomeatable[obs3], impa.s.sable, impervious, innavigable[obs3], inextricable; self-contradictory.

out of one's power, beyond one's power, beyond one's depth, beyond one's reach, beyond one's grasp; too much for; ultra crepidam[Lat].

Phr. the grapes are sour; non possumus[Lat]; non nostrum tantas componere lites [Lat][Vergil]; look for a needle in a haystack, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin [obs3][Fr.]; il a le mer boire[obs3].

#472. Probability. -- N. probability, likelihood; credibleness[obs3]; likeliness &c. adj.; vraisemblance[Fr], verisimilitude, plausibility; color, semblance, show of; presumption; presumptive evidence, circ.u.mstantial evidence; credibility.

reasonable chance, fair chance, good chance, favorable chance, reasonable prospect, fair prospect, good prospect, favorable prospect; prospect, wellgrounded hope; chance &c. 156.

V. be probable &c. adj.; give color to, lend color to; point to; imply &c. (evidence) 467; bid fair &c. (promise) 511; stand fair for; stand a good chance, run a good chance.

think likely, dare say, flatter oneself; expect &c. 507; count upon &c. (believe) 484.

Adj. probable, likely, hopeful, to be expected, in a fair way.

plausible, specious, ostensible, colorable, ben trovato[It], well- founded, reasonable, credible, easy of belief, presumable, presumptive, apparent.

Adv. probably &c. adj.; belike[obs3]; in all probability, in all likelihood; very likely, most likely; like enough; odds on, odds in favor, ten &c. to one; apparently, seemingly, according to every reasonable expectation; prim facie[Lat]; to all appearance &c. (to the eye) 448.

Phr. the chances, the odds are; appearances are in favor of, chances are in favor of; there is reason to believe, there is reason to think, there is reason to expect; I dare say; all Lombard Street to a China orange.

#473. Improbability. -- N. improbability, unlikelihood; unfavorable chance, bad chance, ghost of a chance, little chance, small chance, poor chance, scarcely any chance, no chance; bare possibility; long odds; incredibility &c. 485.

V. be improbable &c. adj.; have a small chance &c. n.

Adj. improbable, unlikely, contrary to all reasonable expectation; wild, far out, out of sight, outtasight, heavy [all coll.].

rare &c. (infrequent) 137; unheard of, inconceivable; unimaginable, inimaginable[obs3]; incredible &c. 485; more than doubtful; strange, bizarre (uncomformable) 83.

Phr. the chances are against; aquila non capit muscas[Lat]; pedir peras pal olmo[Lat].