1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Paradox

PARADOX (Gr. παρά, beyond, contrary to, δóξα, opinion), a proposition or statement which appears to be at variance with generally-received opinion, or which apparently is self-contradictory, absurd or untrue, but either contains a concealed truth or may on examination be proved to be true. A “paradox” has been compared with a “paralogism” (παρά, λογός, reason), as that which is contrary to opinion only and not contrary to reason, but it is frequently used in the sense of that which is really absurd or untrue.