trivial name

American  

[triv-ee-uhl naym] / ˈtrɪv i əl ˌneɪm /

noun

• trivial names
  plural

1. 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.

2. Biology. specific epithet.

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trivial name Scientific  

/ trĭv′ē-əl /

1. A common or vernacular name as distinguished from a scientific name, as chimpanzee for Pan troglodytes.

2. 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.

3. Compare chemical name

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• trivial names
  plural

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trivial name

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

His body is covered with a dense shock of reddish-brown hair; and he dwells in a burrow, which he can cleverly make for himself—hence his trivial name of Ground-hog.

From Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys by William Harvey

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 The Young Voyageurs Boy Hunters in the North by William Harvey

It is black, but with a buff snout, and buff rings round the eyes, which give it that appearance whence it derives its trivial name.

From Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys by William Harvey

Is it from this that he derives his trivial name?

From The Hunters' Feast Conversations Around the Camp Fire by Mayne Reid

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