amphiboly
amp·hi·boly
noun
1.
an ambiguous grammatical construction; e.g., `they are flying planes'' can mean either that someone is flying planes or that something is flying planes
Origin
From Old French amphibolie, from Latin amphibolia, from Ancient Greek ἀμφιβολία (amphibolía, “ambiguity”).
Related words
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.