medical diagnosis - identification of a disease from its symptoms. diagnosing, diagnosis - identifying the nature or cause of some phenomenon. differential diagnosis - a systematic method of diagnosing a disorder (e.g., headache) that lacks unique symptoms or signs. medical prognosis, prognosis, prospect - a prediction of the course of a disease. diagnostic procedure, diagnostic technique - a procedure followed in making a medical diagnosis.
Definition: In logic, a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Adjective: syllogistic. Here is an example of a valid categorical syllogism: Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded. Minor premise: All black dogs are mammals. Conclusion: Therefore, all black dogs are warm-blooded. In rhetoric, an abridged or informally stated syllogism is called an enthymeme.
With regard to the persuasion achieved by proof or apparent proof: just as in dialectic there is induction on the one hand and syllogism or apparent syllogism on the other, so it is in rhetoric. The example is an induction, the enthymeme is a syllogism, and the apparent enthymeme is an apparent syllogism.