Universa Philosophia

Restriction is the contraction of a term from a greater signification to a lesser, as omnis doctus est dignus honore. That adjective, doctus, sets bounds to the substantive homo, which by its own institution embraces even the unlearned, whom the adjective excludes from its signification. The Summulists say that restriction is opposed to ampliation: perhaps because ampliated and restricted seem to be opposites; but properly they are not opposed, because omnis homo is not an ampliated term, since only a subject incompatible with the predicate at the time signified by the verb is an ampliated term. Restriction, however, is opposed to the universality of the word to which it is attached, because it limits it from its whole signification to another less universal, or entirely singular, one. Restriction would better be said to be opposed to alienation, because this draws a word beyond its proper signification to an improper one, for homo, as it signifies painted and true men, signifies more than when it signifies only true men; the opposite happens with restriction, which makes a term signify fewer things than without restriction.