Sinceis the Latin term for "this," Scotus and his disciples came to refer to this positive additive that individuates an individual's nature or distinctive qualities as that individual's unique or proper "" ().or "thisness" has a twofold function: (1) it makes each individual unique and incapable of duplication, even by an omnipotent God; and (2) it differentiates it radically and ultimately from each and every other individual, whether it be of the same or a specially different type.