Meanings
nounreductionism (countable and uncountable, plural reductionisms)
plural reductionisms
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesA philosophical position which holds that a complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts, and that an account of it can be reduced to accounts of individual constituents. In a reductionist framework, the phenomena that can be explained completely in terms of relations between other more fundamental phenomena are called "epiphenomena".
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 還原論 /还原论, 化約論 /化约论
- 還原論 /还原论 (huányuánlùn)(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
- 化約論 /化约论 (huàyuēlùn)(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
Czech redukcionismus
- redukcionismusapproach of studying complex systems
Finnish reduktionismi, reduktionismi
- reduktionismiapproach of studying complex systems
- reduktionismi(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
French réductionnisme, réductionnisme
- réductionnismeapproach of studying complex systems
- réductionnisme(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
Indonesian reduksionisme, reduksionisme
- reduksionismeapproach of studying complex systems
- reduksionisme(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
Japanese 還元主義
- 還元主義(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
Turkish redüksiyonizm, indirgemecilik
- redüksiyonizm(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
- indirgemecilik(philosophy) theory holding that complex systems can be reduced to simpler components
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
reductionism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reductionism
MLA
“reductionism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reductionism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reductionism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reductionism.
Source: reductionism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.