REDUCTIONISM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reductionism mean? 

• REDUCTIONISM (noun)
  The noun REDUCTIONISM has 2 senses:

1. a theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components

2. the analysis of complex things into simpler constituents

  Familiarity information: REDUCTIONISM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REDUCTIONISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("reductionism" is a kind of...):

theory (a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The analysis of complex things into simpler constituents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("reductionism" is a kind of...):

analysis; analytic thinking (the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations)