What is the name for a collective noun for a group of words or acronyms, that is a member of the group it describes?

Question

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The same word used to define itself

For example TLA is a three letter acronym; Antepreroxitone (words with the stress on the third from last sylable) is an antepreroxitone; Noun is a noun.

Related: Word used to define itself, Is there a term for a word that defeats its own purpose?, What is a catchy word that means (non-)self-descriptive, Term for poetry that mimics what it describes, A word meaning “looking like the object that it describes”, What do we call this kind of recursive expression? — RegDwigнt, Jun 01 '12 at 09:02
TLA is a three letter abbreviation or initialism, unless you pronounce it as "tlah". — Hugo, Jun 01 '12 at 10:56

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 01 '12 at 08:35

4

A word expressing a property which it also possesses itself is said to be autological.

answered Jun 01 '12 at 08:35

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 01 '12 at 09:49

A word that describes a group of words including itself could be called a self-inclusive word.

Bertrand Russell could not find anything better than member of itself for his famous paradox:

The class of all classes that are not members of themselves, is or is not a member of itself?

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 01 '12 at 13:31

There is a technical mathematical term to describe this situation. It is:

impredicative

which is a definition of an object that presumes the existence of the object in order for the definition to be well-founded. It is related to 'recursive definition' but not identical.

What is the name for a collective noun for a group of words or acronyms, that is a member of the group it describes?

3 Answers3