trivial name
Americannoun
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trivial names
plural
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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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
It is this peculiarity of nest construction—in shape like a Dutch oven—that has given the bird what DeKay considers its "trivial name."
From Bird Neighbors An Introductory Acquaintance with One Hundred and Fifity Birds Commonly Found in the Gardens, Meadows, and Woods About Our Homes by Neltje Blanchan
The colour of this animal is most generally brownish, with white hairs intermixed, giving that greyish or grizzled appearance—whence the trivial name, grizzly.
From The Hunters' Feast Conversations Around the Camp Fire by Mayne Reid
The Nilghiri Laughing-Thrush breeds, according to my many informants, throughout the more elevated portions of the mountains from which it derives its trivial name, from February to the beginning of June.
From The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 by Allan Octavian Hume
They derive their trivial name from the habit of uttering a note, which somewhat resembles the piping of a quail, and which can be heard at a very great distance.
From Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys by William Harvey
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.
