Where does “nominalism” come from?

Nominalism derives from French nominalisme, formed from French -isme added to Latin -isma, from Latin -alis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁nómn̥ meaning name, rooted in h₃neh₃-.

nominalism (English): A doctrine that universals do not have an...

Definitions

  1. A doctrine that universals do not have an...

Ancestry of “nominalism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchnominalismenominalism
2Frenchnominalnominal
3Latinnōminālisnominal (of a name)
4Latinnōmenname
5Latinestthird-person singular present active indicative...
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁éstito be
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁es-to be

Words derived from “nominalism”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁es- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁ésti →Every word from Latin est →