noun
- a person who believes that general terms or concepts have no independent existence but are merely names or labels
Usage: philosophy
Examples
- The medieval nominalist argued that universals like ‘beauty’ are just words we use.
- As a nominalist, she rejected the idea that abstract concepts exist independently.
- The debate between nominalists and realists has persisted for centuries.
- William of Ockham was a famous nominalist philosopher.
- The nominalist position holds that only individual things truly exist.
- Modern nominalists question whether mathematical objects have real existence.