universal sorter
nounEtymology Compound of universal + sorter; first used in print in or around 1981 by Hendrik Bunt (see quote below) modeled on universal grinder.
1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A mechanism whereby uncountable nouns are made countable and abstract.
- The conceivability of this machine, that we might call the "Universal Sorter", indicates that in principle any "mass noun" can be used as a count noun. Of course, it is true that a "mass noun" like 'wine' undergoes a shift in meaning when used as a count noun...1981, Hendrik Bunt, The formal semantics of mass terms, Amsterdam (dissertation), →OCLC, page 11:
- Related terms
- universal packager, universal grinder