nominal
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈnɒm.ɪ.nəl/
ipa: [ˈnɒm.ɪ.nl̩]
ipa: /ˈnɑ.mɪ.nəl/
ipa: [ˈnɑ.mɪ.nl̩]
Etymology: PIE word
 *h₁nómn̥
From the Middle English nominalle (“of nouns”), borrowed from Latin nōminālis (“of names”), from nōmen (“name”).
Senses: glosses: Of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names.
glosses: Assigned to or bearing a person's name.
examples: text: a nominal difference
text: 1856 February, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Oliver Goldsmith, republished in 1865, The Miscellaneous Writings of Lord Macaulay, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green, page 300,
At Edinburgh he passed eighteen months in nominal attendance on lectures, and picked up some superficial information about chemistry and natural history.
text: In contrast to the traditionally conservative or libertarian ethos of the entrepreneurial class, the oligarchy is increasingly allied with the nominally populist Democratic Party and its regulatory agenda.
ref: 2013 October 5, Joel Kotkin, “California’s New Feudalism Benefits a Few at the Expense of the Multitude”, in The Daily Beast:
synonyms: ceremonial
glosses: Existing in name only.
topics: human-sciences
philosophy
sciences
glosses: Of or relating to nominalism.
examples: text: He gave me only a nominal sum for my services.
text: In the summer, DCC [Devon County Council] transferred ownership of the northern part of the station to NR for a nominal £1, enabling it (and the platform) to become part of the rail network.
ref: 2021 November 17, Andrew Mourant, “Okehampton: a new dawn for Dartmoor”, in RAIL, number 944, page 43:
synonyms: trifling
glosses: Insignificantly small.
examples: text: The nominal voltage is 1.5 V, but the actual figure is usually higher.
text: the nominal yield of a nuclear weapon
antonyms: effective
glosses: Of or relating to the presumed or approximate value, rather than the actual value.
topics: business
finance
glosses: Of, relating to, or being the amount or face value of a sum of money or a stock certificate, for example, and not the purchasing power or market value.
topics: business
finance
glosses: Of, relating to, or being the rate of interest or return without adjustment for compounding or inflation.
examples: text: This sentence contains a nominal phrase.
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: Of or relating to a noun or word group that functions as a noun.
examples: text: We'll just do a nominal flight check.
text: Apart from the slightly high temperature, all the readings from the spacecraft are nominal.
text: The slots are waiting. Waiting for hot pizza. And waiting. The Deliverator honks his horn. This is not a nominal outcome.
ref: 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 9:
text: Reactor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. All systems nominal.
ref: 1996 September, Dustin Browder, MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, spoken by Narrator (Carole Ruggier), Activision:
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
synonyms: normal
glosses: According to plan or design.
examples: text: My employer does not understand how low my nominal wage is.
text: The nominal GNP of this country is pretty low.
text: Comparisons of the costs of the Diablo Canyon plant with other nuclear power plants can be misleading because the available cost data are in nominal dollars and therefore include the toll of inflation over the construction periods.
ref: 1991, Richard J. Gilbert, Regulatory Choices: A Perspective on Developments in Energy Policy, page 267:
text: This simple process allows us to convert nominal dollars into inflation-adjusted real dollars.
ref: 2001, Erich A. Helfert, Financial Analysis: Tools and Techniques: A Guide for Managers, page 467:
topics: economics
sciences
antonyms: real
glosses: Without adjustment to remove the effects of inflation.
topics: mathematics
sciences
statistics
glosses: Having values whose order is insignificant.
raw_tags: of a variable
examples: text: Since then, a good deal of research has documented and concluded that the nominal species A. fraterculus actually comprises an unresolved complex of cryptic species.
ref: 2015 November 26, Mosè Manni et al., “Relevant genetic differentiation among Brazilian populations of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae)”, in ZooKeys, volume 540, →DOI:
topics: biology
natural-sciences
taxonomy
glosses: Of a species, the species name without consideration of whether it is a junior synonym or in reality consists of more than one biological species.
Derived terms: adnominal
binominal
denominal
denominalization
misnominal
multinominal
nominal clause
nominalise
nominalization
nominalize
nominal ledger
nominally
nominalness
nominal partner
nominal state
nominal type system
nominal variable
nondenominal
nonnominal
plurinominal
polynominal
post-nominal
postnominal
prenominal
subnominal
surnominal
uninominal
Related terms: sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: denominate
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: denomination
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: denominator
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nomenclature
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nominalism
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nominalist
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nominality
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nominate
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nomination
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nominative
sense: terms related to nominal (adjective)
word: nominator