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

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

A leaf, having its foot-stalk inserted into the disk or middle part of it, or near it, is called by Linnæus, peltatum, hence the Latin trivial name of this plant.

From The Botanical Magazine, Vol. 1 Or, Flower-Garden Displayed by William Curtis

The real word was Bouillon; and that happens to be the trivial name in French for the plant Verbascum Thapsus.

From Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death by F. W. H. (Frederic William Henry) Myers

These wolves take their trivial name from their being met with principally on the great prairies of the west—although other species of American wolves are found in the prairie country as well as they.

From The Boy Hunters by Unknown

Its trivial name of “sloth bear” is more expressive: for certainly its peculiar aspect—caused by the long shaggy masses of hair which cover its neck and body—gives it a very striking resemblance to the sloth.

From Bruin The Grand Bear Hunt by Johann Baptist Zwecker