The prime word identifies the object to which the business name refers. For example, an organization may need to maintain information about offices, so an entity of Office would exist. The prime word is frequently the noun given to an entity in a data model. Prime words are to be placed at the beginning of the name while maintaining readability. Prime words in some business names may be used as modifiers in other business names.
Modifiers further refine the prime word or class word.
A common misuse of naming conventions is to overload the business name with semantic information that should be captured as metadata of the data element. The use of multiple modifiers in a name for purposes of uniquely identifying the data element may be an indication that multiple concepts are represented. The result may be limited potential for reuse and sharing. A class word is used to designate the general category of data described by a business name. A class word is a noun that is, in effect, a shorthand notation for the general domain of the data element.