Note 121

Universal says something about a term :  for example the term  ' man '  is universal, in virtue of the fact that  ' man '  stands for many things (in an univocal way). Universal thus concerns a way of signification, and that is a certain 'behavior' of our thinking (a certain way of thinking), and so  ' universal '  means a certain 'how-it-is' (quality, property)  of our  t h i n k i n g  (namely using one and the same term as a sign for many), and not a 'how-it-is' of extramental things, about which the thinking is.

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