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appellative - 4 dictionary results

ap⋅pel⋅la⋅tive

  [uh-pel-uh-tiv]
Use appellative in a Sentence
–noun
1. a descriptive name or designation, as Bald in Charles the Bald.
2. a common noun.
–adjective
3. designative; descriptive.
4. tending toward or serving for the assigning of names: the appellative function of some primitive rites.
5. pertaining to a common noun.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME (< MF) < LL appellātīvus. See appellate, -ive

Related forms:
ap⋅pel⋅la⋅tive⋅ly, adverb
ap⋅pel⋅la⋅tive⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To appellative
ap·pel·la·tive   (ə-pěl'ə-tĭv)   
adj.  
  1. Of or relating to the assignment of names.
  2. Grammar Of or relating to a common noun.
n.  A name or descriptive epithet.

[Middle English, common (noun), from Old French appelatif, from Late Latin appelātīvus, from Latin appellātus, past participle of appellāre, to call upon, entreat; see appeal.]
ap·pel'la·tive·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Appellative

Ap*pel"la*tive\, a. [L. appellativus, fr. appellare: cf. F. appelatif. See Appeal.]

1. Pertaining to a common name; serving as a distinctive denomination; denominative; naming. --Cudworth.

2. (Gram.) Common, as opposed to proper; denominative of a class.

Appellative

Ap*pel"la*tive\, n. [L. appelativum, sc. nomen.]

1. A common name, in distinction from a proper name. A common name, or appellative, stands for a whole class, genus, or species of beings, or for universal ideas. Thus, tree is the name of all plants of a particular class; plant and vegetable are names of things that grow out of the earth. A proper name, on the other hand, stands for a single thing; as, Rome, Washington, Lake Erie.

2. An appellation or title; a descriptive name.

God chosen it for one of his appellatives to be the Defender of them. --Jer. Taylor.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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