1. (a.) Pertaining to a common name; serving as a distinctive denomination; denominative; naming.

2. (a.) Common, as opposed to proper; denominative of a class.

3. (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 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.

4. (n.) An appellation or title; a descriptive name.

appellative baptism binomen binomial name byword calling christening cognomen cryptonym definition denomination designation empty title epithet eponym euonym handle honorific hyponym identification label moniker name namesake naming nicknaming nomen nomen nudum proper name proper noun scientific name secret name style styling tag tautonym terming title trinomen trinomial name