谬误 (miù wù) — error; falsehood; fallacy

Definition

A formal/written word for a mistaken belief or argument — stronger than 错误 (a plain 'mistake' or 'error'), often used for logical or factual fallacies in academic writing.

noun
errorfalsehoodfallacy

Examples

  • 谬误。
    Tā de guān diǎn bāo hán yí gè luó ji miù wù.
    His viewpoint contains a logical fallacy.
  • 谬误。
    Zhè piān wén zhāng yǒu míng xiǎn de shì shí miù wù.
    This article has obvious factual errors.
  • 谬误。
    Kē xué jiā jiū zhèng le qián rén de miù wù.
    The scientist corrected the errors of predecessors.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

谬miùfalse
误wùmistake

谬 and 误 both mean error, together forming falsehood or mistake.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 谬 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 誤; 误 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
吳
吳wú誤wù
Same sound today

The traditional form 誤 uses 言 (speech) for meaning and 吳 for sound, giving the idea of speaking an error; the simplified 误 is a later shorthand.

Open 误 →

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