In philosophy and logic, the quality or state of being analytic; the property of a statement or concept being true by definition rather than requiring empirical observation.
From 'analytic' (relating to analysis, or true by definition) + '-ity' (state or quality). Derived from Greek 'analytikos' meaning 'able to break up or analyze,' formalized in philosophical logic during the 20th century.
Philosophers love arguing about analyticity: 'All bachelors are unmarried' is analytically true because 'bachelor' means 'unmarried man'—you don't need to survey bachelors to know this. But Quine famously challenged the whole concept, arguing that the border between analyticity and empirical truth is blurrier than philosophers thought.
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