Appellative

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. (Gram.) Common, as opposed to {proper}; denominative of a
        class.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An appellation or title; a descriptive name.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              God chosen it for one of his appellatives to be the
              Defender of them.                     --Jer. Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  appellative
       adj 1: pertaining to or dealing with or used as a common noun
       2: inclined to or serving for the giving of names; "the
          appellative faculty of children"; "the appellative
          function of some primitive rites" [syn: {naming(a)}]
       n : identifying word or words by which someone or something is
           called and classified or distinguished from others [syn:
           {appellation}, {denomination}, {designation}]