appellative
Americannoun
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a descriptive name or designation, as Bald in Charles the Bald.
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a common noun.
adjective
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designative; descriptive.
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tending toward or serving for the assigning of names.
the appellative function of some primitive rites.
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pertaining to a common noun.
noun
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an identifying name or title; appellation
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grammar another word for common noun
adjective
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of or relating to a name or title
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(of a proper noun) used as a common noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of appellative
1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Late Latin appellātīvus. See appellate, -ive
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.
Now a taxidermied water buffalo head — the ox — watches from above the bar, while the appellative bull is represented across from it in gleaming metal.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
It is however replaced in the New Testament by an appellative.
From The Messiah in Moses and the Prophets by Lord, Eleazar
I did not know him as Lamb: I took him for a Mr. "Guy," having heard somebody address him by that appellative, I suppose in jest.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 2, July, 1850. by Various
The only appellative for a river which I find derived from its sound is the Sanscrit nadi, Hind. nuddy, from nad, sonare.
From The River-Names of Europe by Ferguson, Robert
Again—there are forms such as ang, amb, and, &c., which are merely a strengthening of the roots ag, ab, ad, or at, and which also are found in a number of appellative forms.
From The River-Names of Europe by Ferguson, Robert
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.
