# representative

Pronunciation: say "rep-ri-ZEN-tuh-tiv" /ˌɹɛpɹɪˈzɛnt(ət)ɪv/

## Noun

1. A person who speaks for or acts on behalf of another, especially in an official capacity.
   - Simple: A person who speaks or acts for someone else, often in an official job.
   - _The ambassador serves as the president's representative abroad._
   - _Each department sent two representatives to the planning committee._
2. A member of a lawmaking or governing assembly who acts on behalf of other people.
   - Simple: A person who acts for other people as a member of a group that makes laws or governs.
   - _Voters in the district chose a representative who promised education reform._
   - _State representatives debated the budget late into the night._
4. A member of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress. *(US)*
   - Simple: A member of the part of the United States Congress called the House of Representatives.
   - _The representative from Ohio introduced a bill on rural broadband._
   - _Representatives serve two-year terms and face reelection in even-numbered years._
5. A company agent who visits potential purchasers in order to sell goods or services; a salesman.
   - Simple: A person whose job is to visit possible customers and sell a company's products.
   - _A pharmaceutical representative stopped by the clinic with samples and brochures._
   - _The company's representatives cover three states between them._
6. A person or thing that is an example or member of a particular class, group or type.
   - Simple: One person or thing that belongs to a group and can be used as an example of it.
   - _Botanists chose the sugar maple as a representative of the genus for the exhibit._
   - _The diner stands as a representative of mid-century American roadside architecture._
8. Something that stands for or embodies another thing; a symbol or an embodiment.
   - Simple: A thing that stands for or shows another thing, like a sign or symbol.
   - _Critics read the white whale as a representative of nature's indifference._
   - _The crown functions as a representative of royal authority itself._
10. Something that serves as a substitute for, or an analog of, another thing.
   - Simple: A thing used in place of another thing because the two are alike.
   - _Researchers use the fruit fly as a representative of more complex organisms._
   - _Because the real engine was too costly to risk, the team tested a cheaper representative with the same weight and shape._

## Adjective

3. Typical of a larger group, sharing the same properties or interests as that group.
   - Simple: Typical of a group, with the same features that most members of the group have.
   - _The survey used a representative sample of two thousand adults._
   - _His complaints were representative of how most employees felt._
7. Describing a government or political system in which citizens choose officials by election to make laws and decisions for them.
   - Simple: Describes a kind of government where people vote for others to make laws and choices for them.
   - _Critics argue that representative institutions slowly drift away from the voters who elect them._
   - _Some New England towns combine representative government with open meetings where any resident can vote._
9. Showing a likeness of something else; serving to depict or portray a subject.
   - Simple: Showing what a person, thing, or place looks like.
   - _The gallery favors representative work over abstract pieces._
   - _Early in his career he worked in a representative style, painting farms and harbors before he turned to abstraction._

## Other meanings

- (noun) An element of an equivalence class used to identify or stand for the whole class.
- (noun) A person who inherits the rights or property of someone who has died; an heir.

## Origin

The word continues Middle English "representative," borrowed from Middle French "representatif" and Medieval Latin "repraesentativus." Its modern form can be analyzed as "represent" plus "-ative."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/representative (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).