nominative

adjective
nom·​i·​na·​tive | \ ˈnäm-nə-tiv How to pronounce nominative (audio) , ˈnä-mə-; senses 2 & 3 are also ˈnä-mə-ˌnā- How to pronounce nominative (audio) \

Definition of nominative

1a : marking typically the subject of a verb especially in languages that have relatively full inflection nominative case
b : of or relating to the nominative case a nominative ending
2 : nominated or appointed by nomination
3 : bearing a person's name

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Other Words from nominative

nominative noun

Examples of nominative in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a case of nominative determinism at its best, Parrott—a tall, bespectacled righty from southern California—was a first-round draft pick of the Orioles. Jon Tayler, SI.com, "The Rockies-Padres Series at Coors Field Was Bonkers in the Best Way Possible," 18 June 2019 Kelvin Droegemeier great example of nominative determinism — where your name lines up with your job — as Kelvin is the name of a unit on the thermodynamic temperature scale (one Kelvin is equal to one degree on the Celsius scale). Umair Irfan, Vox, "Trump finally picked a science adviser. He’s a meteorologist. Named Kelvin.," 1 Aug. 2018 More recently, a group of psychologists published a paper claiming that nominative determinism actually works. Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, "Must Dennis be a dentist?," 10 May 2018 The Congressional Gold Medal requires that nominative measures be sponsored by two-thirds of each chamber. Shane Sanderson, kansascity, "Senate votes to award Congressional Gold Medal to Bob Dole," 3 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nominative.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of nominative

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

History and Etymology for nominative

Middle English nominatyf, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French nominatif, from Latin (casus) nominativus nominative case, from nominare; from the traditional use of the nominative form in naming a noun

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More Definitions for nominative

nominative

adjective
nom·​i·​na·​tive | \ ˈnä-mə-nə-tiv How to pronounce nominative (audio) \

Kids Definition of nominative

: being or belonging to the case of a noun or pronoun that is usually the subject of a verb “Mary” in “Mary sees Anne” is in the nominative case.