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Occam

American  
[ok-uhm] / ˈɒk əm /
Or Ockham

noun

  1. William of, died 1349?, English scholastic philosopher.


Occam British  
/ ˈɒkəm /

noun

  1. a variant spelling of (William of) Ockham

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Example Sentences

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Doctors often invoke the principle of Occam’s razor, articulated by the 14th-century philosopher William of Occam, who posited that the simplest interpretation of any phenomenon is most likely the right one.

From New York Times ● May 26, 2022

If William of Occam, medieval philosopher, were transported by time-travel to the present moment, he might not find everything to be unfamiliar.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2020

But the fact that the madness got this far must discourage old William of Occam.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2020

William of Occam would have hated conspiracy theories.

From Time ● Oct. 15, 2017

In the fourteenth century William of Occam revived the subject of nominalism, and this had much to do with the downfall of scholasticism, for its inductive method suggested the acquiring of knowledge through observation.

From History of Human Society by Frank W. (Frank Wilson) Blackmar

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