Etymograph

English

denominative

Denominative comes from Late Latin dēnōminātīvus ‘derived’, from Latin dēnōminō ‘to name, designate’, and ultimately from Hittite ḫannaⁱ- ‘to sue, judge’.

  1. Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-1transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥2‘name’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥2‘name’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōmen2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōminō2‘to name, give a name to, call by name’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnōminō3‘to name, designate’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdēnōminātīvus4‘derived’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1678denominative4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin denomino
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin denominativus
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English denominative
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1678, J. Hawkins, Cocker's Arithm.: “The least denominative part of time is a second.”.

Lineage

  1. Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥transliteratedcuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥Wiktionary, Latin denomino‘name’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥Wiktionary, Latin denomino‘name’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōmenWiktionary, Latin denomino
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōminōWiktionary, Latin denomino‘to name, give a name to, call by name’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnōminōWiktionary, Latin denominativus‘to name, designate’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdēnōminātīvusWiktionary, English denominative‘derived’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1678denominativeWiktionary, English denominative. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1678, J. Hawkins, Cocker's Arithm.: “The least denominative part of time is a second.”

The story

It originally had the meaning “derived”, but in its grammatical sense, it has developed the meaning “from a noun”, perhaps a reinterpretation of the Latin morphemes that it consists of: the preposition dē (‘from’) and the stem of nōmen (‘name, noun’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ ‘name’

name, anonymity, pseudonym, 31 more

through Latin nōmen

noun, nominal, renown, ignominious, ignominy, nomen, 19 more

through Latin nōminō ‘to name, give a name to, call by name’

nomination, allocate, nominate, misnomer, 9 more

Today it means

adj Being a name.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “denominative”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥, Latin denomino, Latin denominativus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Hittite ḫannaⁱ- / denominative

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