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Definition of "nominal" []

  • Of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names. (adjective)
  • Assigned to or bearing a person's name: nominal shares. (adjective)
  • Existing in name only. (adjective)
  • Philosophy Of or relating to nominalism. (adjective)
  • Insignificantly small; trifling: a nominal sum. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "nominal" in a sentence
  • "A vote of thanks was passed to little Squire Goodford, the nominal High Sheriff; I say _nominal_, for,"
  • "_ -- It is a rough and ready way of giving some idea of the power of an engine or engines on the basis of the number of inches in the area of the cylinder or cylinders, but when the process of taking the diagram of the engine is gone through the term nominal is dropped, and indicated horse-power is then expressed, because it was proved by actual experiment and certainty."
  • "It is true, I have often mentioned a real essence, distinct in substances from those abstract ideas of them, which I call their nominal essence."