Adjacent Words

Nominal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NOMINAL, a.
1. Titular; existing in name only; as , a nominal distinction or difference is a difference in name and not in reality.
2. Pertaining to a name or names; consisting in names.
NOMINAL, n. The Nominalists were a sect of school philosophers, the disciples of Ocham or Ocdcam, in the 14th century, who maintained that words and not things are the object of dialectics. They were the founders of the university of Leipsic.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: relating to or constituting or bearing or giving a name; "the Russian system of nominal brevity"; "a nominal lists of priests"; "taxable males as revealed by the nominal rolls"
2: insignificantly small; a matter of form only (`tokenish' is informal); "the fee was nominal"; "a token gesture of resistance"; "a toknenish gesture" [syn: nominal, token, tokenish]
3: pertaining to a noun or to a word group that functions as a noun; "nominal phrase"; "noun phrase"
4: of, relating to, or characteristic of an amount that is not adjusted for inflation; "the nominal GDP"; "nominal interest rates" [ant: real]
5: named; bearing the name of a specific person; "nominative shares of stock" [syn: nominative, nominal]
6: existing in name only; "the nominal (or titular) head of his party" [syn: nominal, titular] n
1: a phrase that can function as the subject or object of a verb [syn: noun phrase, nominal phrase, nominal]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English nominalle, from Medieval Latin nominalis, from Latin, of a name, from nomin-, nomen name — more at name Date: 15th century 1. of, relating to, or being a noun or a word or expression taking a noun construction 2. a. of, relating to, or constituting a name b. bearing the name of a person 3. a. existing or being something in name or form only <nominal head of his party> b. of, being, or relating to a designated or theoretical size that may vary from the actual ; approximate <the pipe's nominal size> c. trifling, insignificant <his involvement was nominal> <charged only nominal rent> 4. of a rate of interest a. equal to the annual rate of simple interest that would obtain if interest were not compounded when in fact it is compounded and paid for periods of less than a year b. equal to the percentage by which a repaid loan exceeds the principal borrowed with no adjustment made for inflation 5. being according to plan ; satisfactory <everything was nominal during the launch> • nominally adverb II. noun Date: 1904 a word or word group functioning as a noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 existing in name only; not real or actual (nominal and real prices; nominal ruler). 2 (of a sum of money, rent, etc.) virtually nothing; much below the actual value of a thing. 3 of or in names (nominal and essential distinctions). 4 consisting of or giving the names (nominal list of officers). 5 of or as or like a noun. Phrases and idioms: nominal definition a statement of all that is connoted in the name of a concept. nominal value the face value (of a coin, shares, etc.). Derivatives: nominally adv. Etymology: ME f. F nominal or L nominalis f. nomen -inis name

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nominal Nom"i*nal, a. [L. nominalis, fr. nomen, nominis, name. See Name.] 1. Of or pertaining to a name or names; having to do with the literal meaning of a word; verbal; as, a nominal definition. --Bp. Pearson. 2. Existing in name only; not real; as, a nominal difference. ``Nominal attendance on lectures.'' --Macaulay.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nominal Nom"i*nal, n. 1. A nominalist. [Obs.] --Camden. 2. (Gram.) A verb formed from a noun. 3. A name; an appellation. A is the nominal of the sixth note in the natural diatonic scale. --Moore (Encyc. of Music. )

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You use nominal to indicate that someone or something is supposed to have a particular identity or status, but in reality does not have it. As he was still not allowed to run a company, his wife became its nominal head... I was brought up a nominal Christian. ADJ: usu ADJ n • nominally The Sultan was still nominally the Chief of Staff. = technically ADV: ADV with cl/group, ADV before v 2. A nominal price or sum of money is very small in comparison with the real cost or value of the thing that is being bought or sold. All the ferries carry bicycles free or for a nominal charge. ADJ: ADJ n 3. In economics, the nominal value, rate, or level of something is the one expressed in terms of current prices or figures, without taking into account general changes in prices that take place over time. Inflation would be lower and so nominal rates would be rather more attractive in real terms... ? real ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Titular, only in name, nuncupative, nuncupatory.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract noun, adherent noun, adjectival, adverbial, alleged, apparent, attributive, budget, byname, cheap, cognominal, collective noun, common noun, conjunctive, copulative, correct, diminutive, easy, economic, economy, epithetic, formal, frugal, functional, gerund, glossematic, grammatic, honorific, hypocoristic, hypostasis, in name only, inconsiderable, inexpensive, insignificant, insubstantial, intransitive, linking, low, low-priced, manageable, minimal, minor, minuscule, moderate, modest, nominative, noun, noun phrase, ostensible, participial, postpositional, prepositional, pretended, professed, pronominal, pronoun, proper noun, proposed, propositional, puppet, purported, quasi, quotation noun, reasonable, representational, seeming, self-called, self-christened, self-styled, sensible, shabby, shoddy, small, so-called, soi-disant, structural, substantive, supposed, supposititious, syntactic, tagmemic, tiny, titular, token, transitive, trifling, trivial, unexpensive, verbal, within means, worth the money, would-be