What does "apriorism" mean?

The idea that some knowledge of the physical world can be derived logically from general principles.

What is a synonym for "apriorism"?

Common synonyms include: affirmation, assertion, assumption, axiom, basis, data.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The idea that some knowledge of the physical world can be derived logically from general principles. countable, uncountable
"The linguistic apriorism of Chomsky has stimulated some psychologists to search for nonlinguistic roots of language development."
2
belief in a priori principles or reasoning; specifically : the doctrine that knowledge rests upon principles that are self-evident to reason or are presupposed by experience in general. wordnet

"The linguistic apriorism of Chomsky has stimulated some psychologists to search for nonlinguistic roots of language development."

From a priori + -ism, after French apriorisme.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.