Noun: descriptivism di'skrip-ti-vi-zum
- (linguistics) a doctrine supporting or promoting descriptive linguistics
"The linguist's descriptivism led her to study how language is actually used, rather than prescribing rules"
- (ethics) a doctrine holding that moral statements have a truth value
"His ethical descriptivism asserted that moral claims can be objectively true or false"
Derived forms: descriptivisms
Type of: doctrine, ism, philosophical system, philosophy, school of thought
Encyclopedia: Descriptivism