Full Idea
On the traditional realist's view abstract qualities (universals) are the common referents of two quite different sorts of expression - of ordinary adjectives (predicates), and of abstract nouns referring to them.
Gist of Idea
Realists take universals to be the referrents of both adjectives and of nouns
Source
Bob Hale (Abstract Objects [1987], Ch.2.II)
Book Reference
Hale,Bob: 'Abstract Objects' [Blackwell 1987], p.33
A Reaction
This fact alone should make us suspicious, especially as there isn't an isomorphism between the nouns and the adjectives, and the match-up will vary between languages.