[nom.i.nal.ism] n (1844) 1: a theory that there are no universal essences in reality and that the mind can frame no single concept or image corresponding to any universal or general term
2: the theory that only individuals and no abstract entities (as essences, classes, or propositions) exist--compare essentialism, realism -- nom.i.nal.ist n -- nominalist or nom.i.nal.is.tic adj