dormitive virtue

Etymology
A calque translation of, , coined by Molière in The Imaginary Invalid. In the play, he lampoons a group of physicians providing an explanation in macaronic Latin of the sleep-inducing properties of opium as stemming from its "virtus dormitiva".

Noun

 * 1)  A type of tautology in which an item is explained in terms of the item itself, only put in different (usually more abstract) words.

Translations

 * Finnish: virtus dormitiva
 * Latin: virtus dormitiva
 * Portuguese: virtude dormitiva
 * Spanish: virtud dormitiva