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Full Idea
Every universal is one particular thing and it is not a universal except in its signification, in its signifying many thing.
Gist of Idea
Universals are single things, and only universal in what they signify
Source
William of Ockham (Summa totius logicae [1323]), quoted by Claude Panaccio - Medieval Problem of Universals 'William'
Book Ref
'Routledge Companion to Metaphysics', ed/tr. Le Poidevin/Simons etc [Routledge 2012], p.55
A Reaction
Sounds as if William might have liked tropes. It seems to leave the problem unanswered (the 'ostrich' problem?). How are they able to signify in this universal way, if each thing is just distinct and particular?