universals
- 1Plural of universal.
Medieval philosophers debated whether universals exist independently of particular things.
Properties like redness and squareness are often cited as universals shared by many objects.
Note
A plural that belongs to only one side of the word. The adjective universal (worldwide, all-purpose, common to a whole class) never takes an -s. Only the noun for a property that many particular things share does. That noun is at home in philosophy, where realists treat universals as mind-independent entities that particulars instantiate, and nominalists reduce them to names or resemblances.
universals is a form of universal
universal, noun: A property or feature held in common by many particular things. Full entry
- Forms
- universaluniversals plural
- Spelling
- universal → universals: add -s
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