rigid designator

noun

1. logic an expression that identifies the same individual in every possible world: for example, "Shakespeare" is a rigid designator since it is possible that Shakespeare might not have been a playwright but not that he might not have been Shakespeare

Example Sentences

Water is a rigid designator, while “the substance that fills the lakes and oceans” is descriptive.

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The term “rigid designator,” which has entered the Oxford English Dictionary, defines the type of linguistic expression that refers to the same thing in all possible worlds, as opposed to a descriptive designator, which may not.

Read more on New York Times