Word.ws English Dictionary

Q-principle

Q-principle proper noun: in the neo-Gricean semantics and pragmatics of Laurence R. Horn: a reformulation of Paul Grice's maxim of quantity combined with the first two submaxims of manner, stating: "Say as much as you can (given R)", and leading to the implicature that if the speaker did not make a stronger statement (or say more), then its denial is (implied to be) true.

Proper noun

the Q-principle

  1. In the neo-Gricean semantics and pragmatics of Laurence R. Horn: a reformulation of Paul Grice's maxim of quantity combined with the first two submaxims of manner, stating: "Say as much as you can (given R)", and leading to the implicature that if the speaker did not make a stronger statement (or say more), then its denial is (implied to be) true.

Origin of Q-principle

Q stands for quantity.

Questions about Q-principle

What does Q-principle mean?
Q-principle means in the neo-Gricean semantics and pragmatics of Laurence R. Horn: a reformulation of Paul Grice's maxim of quantity combined with the first two submaxims of manner, stating: "Say as much as you can (given R)", and leading to the implicature that if the speaker did not make a stronger statement (or say more), then its denial is (implied to be) true.
What part of speech is Q-principle?
Q-principle is a proper noun.

Words near Q-principle in the dictionary

  1. Q-lined
  2. Q-lines
  3. Q-lining
  4. Q-max
  5. Q-pop
  6. Q-principle
  7. Q-Q plot
  8. Q-Q plots
  9. Q-shaped
  10. Q-ship
  11. Q-ships

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Q-principle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “Q-principle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/q-principle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.