Standard Lemma guide

nominalism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A doctrine that universals do not have an existence except as names for classes of concrete objects.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: realism

2

noun

Meaning 2

(philosophy) the doctrine that the various objects labeled by the same term have nothing in common but their name

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory

History

Etymology

From French nominalisme. By surface analysis, nominal + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: նոմինալիզմ (nominalizm) — doctrine
  • Czech: nominalismus — doctrine
  • Finnish: nominalismi — doctrine
  • Greek: ονοματοκρατία (onomatokratía) — doctrine
  • Greek: νομιναλισμός (nominalismós) — doctrine
  • Irish: ainmníochas — doctrine
  • Polish: nominalizm — doctrine
  • Portuguese: nominalismo — doctrine
  • Russian: номинализм (nominalizm) — doctrine
  • Swedish: nominalism — doctrine
  • Turkish: adcılık — doctrine