Nomothetic

//ˌnɒməˈθɛtɪk// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Relating to the underlying laws of a subject. not-comparable

    "A focus on averaged risk effects, estimated across people, may occlude idiographic within-person processes which could aid in the precise detection of individual-level correlates of suicide. The present study focuses on new statistical models applied to intensive longitudinal data to quantify heterogeneity in within-person processes. Nomothetic approaches, such as multi-level models, are the most conventional method for identifying group-level suicide risk factors. These methods assume that effects apply equally across all individuals."

Adjective
  1. 1
    relating to or involving the search for abstract universal principles wordnet

Example

More examples

"The natural sciences are nomothetic, whereas the humanities are idiographic."

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek νομοθετικός (nomothetikós).

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