English

Adjective

sortal ‎(not comparable)

1. (philosophy) Of or pertaining to a sort
   • 1690, John Locke, “Chapter III: Of General Terms”, in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book III:

     But, it being evident that things are ranked under names into sorts or species, only as they agree to certain abstract ideas, to which we have annexed those names, the essence of each genus, or sort, comes to be nothing but that abstract idea which the general, or sortal (if I may have leave so to call it from sort, as I do general from genus), name stands for.

2. (philosophy) Having the character of a sortal
   • 2008 January 8, John E. Sarnecki, “Sortals for Dummies”, in Erkenntnis, volume 69, number 2, DOI:10.1007/s10670-007-9094-6:

     The possession of sortal concepts is a prerequisite for philosophers like Wiggins or Lowe in determining the nature and extent of our referential capacities.

Noun

sortal ‎(plural sortals)

1. (philosophy) A type of universal that defines a particular sort of object
   • 1974, P.F. Strawson, Subject and Predicate in Logic and Grammar, ISBN 0416821901, page 135:

     And central to this notion is the distinction, among semantic types of g-words, between sortals on the one hand and non-sortal general-character-specifiers on the other

Derived terms

See also

• Sortals in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Anagrams

• tolars