appellative

American  

[uh-pel-uh-tiv] / əˈpɛl ə tɪv /

noun

1. a descriptive name or designation, as Bald in Charles the Bald.

2. a common noun.

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adjective

1. designative; descriptive.

2. tending toward or serving for the assigning of names.

   the appellative function of some primitive rites.

3. pertaining to a common noun.

appellative British  

/ əˈpɛlətɪv /

noun

1. an identifying name or title; appellation

2. grammar another word for common noun

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adjective

1. of or relating to a name or title

2. (of a proper noun) used as a common noun

Other Word Forms

• appellatively adverb
• appellativeness noun

Etymology

Origin of appellative

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Late Latin appellātīvus. See appellate, -ive

Example Sentences

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 indeed easy to conceive, that Simon might have been commonly distinguished by either appellative, but this we can only conjecture; neither Evangelist adds a word to explain the point.

From An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by Greenleaf, Simon

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 Jains use the term with preference as an appellative of Vardhamāna whom they revere as their Buddha.—48.

From The Gospel of Buddha Compiled from Ancient Records by Paul Carus by Carus, Paul

It is however replaced in the New Testament by an appellative.

From The Messiah in Moses and the Prophets by Lord, Eleazar