propertybearing

Propertybearing is a term used in philosophy and semantics to describe the capacity of an entity to bear properties—i.e., to be the locus of attributes or predicates. A propertybearing thing (often called a property bearer) is the subject to which properties can be ascribed or predicated, such as color, shape, or relation.

In analytic philosophy, discussions about propertybearing distinguish between the bearer and the properties it bears. Concrete objects like a red apple, a moving event, or a spatial region can be described as property bearers because they are the entities to which predicates are applied. The act of predication links the bearer to its properties, with the property itself often understood as a feature or quality that the bearer possesses.

The concept helps illuminate questions about identity, change, and modality. For example, debates about whether properties are universals, tropes, or mere linguistic predicates revolve around how many properties a bearer can possess, whether properties exist independently of their bearers, and how predication tracks these relations across possible worlds or times.

Scope and usage vary by discipline. In philosophy, propertybearing is primarily a ontological or semantic notion concerned with predication and the nature of objects. In linguistics and cognitive science, it can inform theories about how language attaches properties to subjects and how speakers represent attribute information.

See also: bearers, properties, predication, universals, trope theory, bundle theory.