universe of discourse

The part of the world under discussion; more precisely, the set of all objects presumed or hypothesized to exist for some specific purpose. Objects may be concrete (e.g., a specific carbon atom, Confucius, the Sun) or abstract (e.g., the number 2, the set of all integers, the concept of justice). Objects may be primitive or composite (e.g., a circuit that consists of many subcircuits). Objects may even be fictional (e.g., a unicorn, Sherlock Holmes). The universe of discourse is a familiar concept in logic, linguistics, and mathematics.

Related category

• LOGIC

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