appellative

appellative
    adj 1: pertaining to or dealing with or used as a common noun
    2: inclined to or serving for the giving of names; "the
       appellative faculty of children"; "the appellative function
       of some primitive rites" [syn: {appellative}, {naming(a)}]
    n 1: identifying word or words by which someone or something is
         called and classified or distinguished from others [syn:
         {appellation}, {denomination}, {designation},
         {appellative}]
    

Appellative \Ap*pel"la*tive\, a. [L. appellativus, fr.
   appellare: cf. F. appelatif. See {Appeal}.]
   1. Pertaining to a common name; serving as a distinctive
      denomination; denominative; naming. --Cudworth.
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   2. (Gram.) Common, as opposed to {proper}; denominative of a
      class.
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Appellative \Ap*pel"la*tive\, n. [L. appelativum, sc. nomen.]
   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.
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   2. An appellation or title; a descriptive name.
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            God chosen it for one of his appellatives to be the
            Defender of them.                     --Jer. Taylor.
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