nominate
Formsnominates, nominating, nominated
Formsnominates, nominating, nominated
Pluralnominates
- 1To put forward someone's name as a candidate for a particular role, position, or office.
Each party may nominate a single candidate for the governorship.
Colleagues nominated him for the leadership role after years of steady work.
Similarpropose, name, recommend
Note
Every sense of the word goes back to Latin nōmen, "a name": nōminātus, "named", is the participle of nōminō, "to name". English had the adjective first, in Middle English around 1450, and the verb followed in 1545. Putting a name forward is still the core of the modern verb. You nominate someone for a post, and the choosing is left to others.
- 2To state in advance which pocket a ball will be sent into before playing the shot.
In call-shot pool, players must nominate both the ball and the pocket.
She nominated the top-left pocket and potted the seven cleanly.
Note
At the billiard table the verb keeps its root meaning almost literally: what gets named is a pocket, not a person. Call and name do the same job here. The construction is plainly transitive, as in nominate the corner pocket or nominate the ball and the pocket. Unlike the electoral sense, it takes no for.
- 3To designate a peer, or oneself, as matching a particular description, which may be positive or negative.
Respondents were asked to nominate peers who best fit each trait on the list.
Children in the survey nominated themselves as either popular or shy.
Similarname, identify, designate, pick
Note
A research term from the study of peer relations. Respondents name classmates or group members who fit each description on a list, and they may name themselves. Rob Gommans and Antonius Cillessen (2014) contrast nominating under constraints with an unlimited method, where respondents name as many or as few peers as they see fit. Unlike the electoral sense, nobody is being proposed for selection, and the description may be unflattering.
- 4Designating the subspecies whose name repeats the species name and which includes the type form.
The nominate subspecies retains the same name as the species itself.
Pale wing markings distinguish the nominate race from its northern relatives.
Note
Of all the adjective senses, this is the one still in active scientific use. It appears in fixed phrases such as the nominate subspecies, or the nominate race when a writer is comparing populations. Its formal equivalent is nominotypical. The word does not compare, since one form cannot be more nominate than another, and it normally stands before its noun.
- 5To give a name to; to confer a title or name upon a person, place, or thing.
Note
Here the verb sits closest to Latin nōminō, "to name". Sir Thomas Browne writes in Urne-Burial (1658) that Norwich was "enlarged, builded and nominated by the Saxons". He means the Saxons named it, not that they put it up for office. In older prose, read the word as plain name. It is no longer used this way, so a modern writer should avoid it.
- 6A person named or proposed for an office, role, or appointment; a nominee.
The crown's nominate took up the bishopric within the month.
Two nominates contested the vacant seat on the council.
Note
A noun that lost out to nominee. The person put forward was once a nominate, with the plural nominates. When you meet it in older documents, read it as nominee. A modern writer should use nominee instead, because the noun survives only as a historical curiosity.
- 7Having been named or appointed to an office; nominated to a post.
The nominate governor awaited royal confirmation of his post.
A nominate magistrate held the seat until the election concluded.
Note
Its typical company is the executor. Both an executor nominate and a nominate executor occur, so the adjective could stand after its noun as well as before it. Both orders are now out of use. A modern writer would say the named or nominated executor.
- 8Named or called; appointed or designated by name.
Note
The adjective borrowed straight from Latin nōminātus, through Middle English nominat(e), "named, designated". It behaved like a past participle, doing the work that named or nominated does today. Those participles have since taken over its job completely. In older texts, read it as named.
- 9Mentioned by name; expressly noted within a record or account.
- 10Having a special name, or making mention of a particular name.
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Origin
The adjective is first recorded in 1450 in Middle English and the verb in 1545, partly from Middle English "nominat(e)" ("named, designated"). It comes from Latin "nōminātus," the past participle of "nōminō" ("to name"), from "nōmen" ("a name").