: relating to, involving, or dealing with abstract, general, or universal statements or laws
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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, 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.
Word History
Etymology
Greek nomothetikos of legislation, from nomothetēs lawgiver, from nomos law + -thetēs one who establishes, from tithenai to put — more at do
First Known Use
1904, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
nomothetic
adjective
no·mo·thet·ic ˌnäm-ə-ˈthet-ik ˌnō-mə-
: relating to, involving, or dealing with abstract, general, or universal statements or laws compare idiographic