D defs.my
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Entry 4 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Appellative

· Ap·pel·la·tive · IPA /əˈpɛlətɪv/
01 a. Pertaining to a common name; serving as a distinctive denomination; denominative; naming.
  1. 1.
    Pertaining to a common name; serving as a distinctive denomination; denominative; naming.
  2. 2.
    Common, as opposed to proper; denominative of a class.(Gram.)
02 n. A common name, in distinction from a proper name. A common name, or appellative, stands for a whole class, genus, or species of beings, or …
  1. 1.
    A common name, in distinction from a proper name. A common name, or appellative, stands for a whole class, genus, or species of beings, or for universal ideas. Thus, tree is the name of all plants of a particular class; plant and vegetable are names of things that grow out of the earth. A proper name, on the other hand, stands for a single thing; as, Rome, Washington, Lake Erie.
  2. 2.
    An appellation or title; a descriptive name.
    “God chosen it for one of his appellatives to be the Defender of them.” — Jer. Taylor.