nomothetic

adjective

no·mo·thet·ic | \ ˌnä-mə-ˈthe-tik

How to pronounce nomothetic (audio)

, ˌnō-\

Definition of nomothetic

: relating to, involving, or dealing with abstract, general, or universal statements or laws

Did You Know?

Nomothetic is often contrasted with "idiographic," a word meaning "relating to or dealing with something concrete, individual, or unique." Where "idiographic" points to the specific and unique, "nomothetic" points to the general and consistent. The immediate Greek parent of nomothetic is a word meaning "of legislation"; the word has its roots in nomos, meaning "law," and -thetēs, meaning "one who establishes." "Nomos" has played a part in the histories of words as varied as "metronome," "autonomous," and "Deuteronomy." The English contributions of "-thetēs" are meager ("nomothetic" is the only one in our Collegiate dictionary), but "-thetēs" itself comes from tithenai, meaning "to put," and "tithenai" is the ancestor of many common words ending in "thesis"-"hypothesis," "parenthesis," "prosthesis," "synthesis," and "thesis" itself-as well as "theme," "epithet," and "apothecary."

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The first known use of nomothetic was in 1904

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nomothetic

adjective

no·mo·thet·ic | \ ˌnäm-ə-ˈthet-ik

, ˌnō-mə-

\

Medical Definition of nomothetic

: relating to, involving, or dealing with abstract, general, or universal statements or laws — compare idiographic

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