nominalism.

The view that general categories do not exist independently as universal entities beyond particular things.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• medieval nominalism
• philosophical nominalism

On the page

The chapter contrasts nominalism with realism about universals.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, qualification. Commonness: uncommon.