nominative

N1O1M3I1N1A1T1I1V4E1
US/ˈnɑm(ɪ)nətɪv/UK/ˈnɒm(ɪ)nətɪv/

adjective

Giving a name; naming; designating.

“nominative fair use”

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 15

Meanings

adjectivenominative (not comparable)
  1. not comparableGiving a name; naming; designating.

    nominative fair use

    1 more example

    A telling marker of the change in the reporter's status was the elimination of the nominative reports (that is, the citation of the reports by the reporter's name). The first state to use “state reports” rather than the nominative designation was Connecticut (1814). Many other states made this change in the middle of the 19th Century or began their official reports with state reports.

    2007, William D. Popkin, Evolution of the Judicial Opinion: Institutional and Individual Styles, NYU Press, →ISBN, page 104
  2. not comparablegrammarBeing in that case or form of a noun which stands as the subject of a finite verb.
  3. not comparableMaking a selection or nomination; choosing.

    To Duchamp, an artist's nominative act—the declaration itself regardless of the object—was itself the art. He could choose anything indifferent to, or even in spite of, its aesthetic merits.

    2014, Eva Diaz, The Experimenters: Chance and Design at Black Mountain College
nounnominative (plural nominatives)

plural nominatives

  1. A noun in the nominative case.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivenamed; bearing the name of a specific person

adjectiveappointed by nomination

nounthe category of nouns serving as the grammatical subject of a verb

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁nómn̥
  2. Proto-Italic*nōmn̥
  3. Latinnōmen
  4. Latinnōminō
  5. Ancient Greekὀνομαστική (onomastikḗ)
  6. Latinnōminātīvus
  7. Old Frenchnominatif
  8. Latinnōminātīvus
  9. Middle Englishnominatyf
  10. Englishnominative

From Middle English nominatyf, either via Old French nominatif or directly from Latin nōminātīvus (“pertaining to naming, nominative”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans nominatief
  • nominatiefbeing in the nominative case
Ancient Greek ὀνομαστική
  • ὀνομαστική (onomastikḗ)being in the nominative case
Arabic مَرْفُوع
  • مَرْفُوع (marfūʕ)being in the nominative case
Bulgarian имени́телен
  • имени́телен (imenítelen)being in the nominative case
Catalan nominatiu
  • nominatiubeing in the nominative case
Danish nævnefald, nominativ
  • nævnefaldbeing in the nominative case
  • nominativbeing in the nominative case
Dutch nominatief-, in de nominatief
  • nominatief-being in the nominative case
  • in de nominatiefbeing in the nominative case
  • nominatiefvormnoun in the nominative case
Estonian nimetav
  • nimetavbeing in the nominative case
Finnish nominatiivi-, nominatiivinen
  • nominatiivi-being in the nominative case
  • nominatiivinenbeing in the nominative case
  • nominatiivinoun in the nominative case
  • nimentönoun in the nominative case
French nominatif
  • nominatifbeing in the nominative case
German Nominativ-, im Nominativ
  • Nominativ-being in the nominative case
  • im Nominativbeing in the nominative case
  • Nominativformnoun in the nominative case
Greek ονομαστική
  • ονομαστική (onomastikí)being in the nominative case
Icelandic nefnifalls-, í nefnafalli
  • nefnifalls-being in the nominative case
  • í nefnafallibeing in the nominative case
Irish ainmneach
  • ainmneachbeing in the nominative case
Italian nominativo
  • nominativobeing in the nominative case
Korean 주격
  • 주격 (jugyeok)being in the nominative case
Latin nōminātīvus
  • nōminātīvusbeing in the nominative case
Polish mianujący, mianowanie
  • mianującybeing in the nominative case
  • mianowaniebeing in the nominative case
Portuguese nominativo
  • nominativobeing in the nominative case
Romanian nominativ
  • nominativbeing in the nominative case
Russian имени́тельный
  • имени́тельный (imenítelʹnyj)being in the nominative case
Spanish nominativo
  • nominativobeing in the nominative case
Swedish nominativ-, i nominativ
  • nominativ-being in the nominative case
  • i nominativbeing in the nominative case
Ukrainian називни́й
  • називни́й (nazyvnýj)being in the nominative case
Welsh goddrychol, goddrychol
  • goddrycholbeing in the nominative case
  • goddrycholnoun in the nominative case
Cite this entry
APA

nominative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nominative

MLA

“nominative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nominative. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nominative,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nominative.

Source: nominative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.