trivial name
Americannoun
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the common name used in everyday language to refer to an organism or to a chemical element or compound, such as dog for Canis familiaris or vinegar for acetic acid.
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Biology. specific epithet.
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A common or vernacular name as distinguished from a scientific name, as chimpanzee for Pan troglodytes.
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A common, historic, or convenient name for a substance. The trivial name is often derived from the source in which the substance was discovered. It is not systematic and is not used in modern official nomenclature. Sucrose is the trivial name for β - D -fructofuranosyl- α - D -glucopyranoside.
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Compare chemical name
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Speaking on his first visit to Wales since his appointment, he said he had been in the post ten days and would not submit to "trivial" name tests.
From BBC • Oct. 2, 2015
Also, the trivial name of the baggety, an ugly fish, likewise called the sea-owl, Cyclopterus lumpus.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
Others bark like 'toy-dogs,' while still other kinds utter a whistling noise, from which one species derives its trivial name of 'whistler' among the traders, and is the 'siffleur' of the Canadian voyageurs.
From Popular Adventure Tales by Reid, Mayne
A leaf, having its foot-stalk inserted into the disk or middle part of it, or near it, is called by Linnæus, peltatum, hence the Latin trivial name of this plant.
From The Botanical Magazine, Vol. 1 Or, Flower-Garden Displayed by Curtis, William
The trivial name of the Cyprinus auratus, one of the most superb of the finny tribe.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
