nominalism
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nominalism
From the French word nominalisme, dating back to 1830–40. See nominal, -ism
Vocabulary lists containing nominalism
Ancient Philosophy
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Medieval Europe - Middle School
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Medieval Europe - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the U.N., he rejected a “declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences.”
From The New Yorker • Sep. 30, 2015
Such is the magnitude of these situations and their toll in innocent lives, that we must avoid every temptation to fall into a declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2015
By Ontology we may designate the standing controversies of the intellectual powers—perception, innate ideas, nominalism versus realism, and noumenon versus phenomenon.
From Practical Essays by Bain, Alexander
The excesses and failures of idealist theories of knowledge have always given rise in history to the opposite theory of sensualist nominalism, according to which our ideas are simply transformed sensations.
From Outlines of a Philosophy of Religion based on Psychology and History by Sabatier, Auguste
Modern thought, especially, is passing from an excessive nominalism to a more realistic habit; by many a broad induction, from mere details to a rounded whole: And nowhere more persistently than in relation to institutions.
From The History of Dartmouth College by Smith, Baxter Perry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
