denominative

English

Etymology

From Late Latin dēnōminātīvus, a calque of Ancient Greek παρώνυμος (parṓnumos, “derivative”). It originally had the meaning “derived”, but in its grammatical sense, it has developed the meaning “from a noun”, perhaps a reinterpretation of the Latin morphemes that it consists of: the preposition dē (“from”) and the stem of nōmen (“name, noun”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /di-ˈnä-mə-nə-tiv/

  • Audio (General American):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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Adjective

denominative (not comparable)

1. Being a name.
   • 1885, William Philo Clark, The Indian Sign Language, page 283:

     From the fact that this was the most noticeable feature in their costume, the name came naturally to be the denominative term of the tribe.

2. Possessing, or capable of possessing, a distinct denomination or designation; denominable.
   • 1678, J. Hawkins, Cocker's Arithm., ii. 29:

     The least denominative part of time is a second.

3. (grammar) Deriving from a noun, or from an adjective, such as the verb destruct from the noun destruction.

   Synonym: denominal

Derived terms

• denominatively

Translations

deriving from a noun — see also denominal

• Catalan: denominatiu
• Finnish: denominaalinen (fi), nominikantainen (fi)
• French: dénominal (fr)
• Greek: μετονοματικός (el) (metonomatikós)
• Italian: denominale (it), denominativo
• Spanish: denominativo

being a name

• Bulgarian: нарицателен (naricatelen)
• Russian: нарица́тельный (ru) m (naricátelʹnyj)

Noun

denominative (plural denominatives)

1. (grammar) A word, often a verb, that is derived from a noun or adjective.

   Synonym: denominal

Translations

word that is derived from a noun or adjective

• Czech: denominativum n
• Finnish: denominaali (fi), nominijohdannainen
• French: dénominal (fr) m
• Italian: denominale (it) m, denominativo m
• Spanish: denominativo m

See also

• deadjective, denominal, desubstantive, deverbal, deverbative

Further reading

• “denominative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “denominative, denominal”, in Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Italian

Adjective

denominative f pl

1. feminine plural of denominativo

Latin

Adjective

dēnōminātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of dēnōminātīvus