Duns Scotus

1 9.9

A Scottish thinker about religion and philosophy from the Middle Ages

proper noun

: Duns Scotus

Duns Scotus's doctrine of the 'univocity of being' continues to be studied today.

Examples

Duns Scotus's doctrine of the 'univocity of being' continues to be studied today.
Duns Scotus was a prominent figure in medieval philosophy.
Many philosophical debates in the Middle Ages were influenced by Duns Scotus.
The ideas of Duns Scotus remain relevant to scholars of theology and metaphysics.
Many scholars study Duns Scotus to understand medieval thought.
Many philosophical debates in the Middle Ages were influenced by Duns Scotus.
The ideas of Duns Scotus remain relevant to scholars of theology and metaphysics.

Synonyms

John Duns Scotus

vsDuns Scotus

9.9

A Scottish thinker from the Middle Ages who wrote about God and why things exist

is the shorter more familiar name used in general references

Surface Forms

Duns Scotus main

Morphology

Duns + Scotus

This is a personal name (the medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus); the parts 'Duns' and 'Scotus' are proper-name elements without independent meanings that would signal the identity or biographical information. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to derive that this refers to a specific Scottish theologian and philosopher, so the expression is non-compositional and opaque.

Etymology

Duns Scotus is the name of the scholar John Duns: Duns is his family or place name and Scotus is Latin for 'the Scot', so the name literally means 'Duns the Scot' and is used for this famous Scottish thinker. He was nicknamed the 'Subtle Doctor' because people thought his ideas were very careful and clever, which helps you remember him.