denomination

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English denominacioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French denominacion^[4][2][5] and directly borrowed from Latin dēnōminātiō (“a calling by another name, metonymy”),^[3][5][6] a noun of action from dēnōminō (“to name”),^[4][2] formed from dē- (“completely”) and nōminō (“to name”), from nōmen (“name”).^[2][3] In Anglo-Norman denominacion is recorded from 1341–42, meaning the nomination of someone to an office.^[7] The word is related to denominate, denominator, nominate and name.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mentioning or specifying by name: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.^[4][3] The general sense, the action of naming, is from about 1400.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the act of naming the word passed to the name given to a thing or class (before 1475),^[4][2] and in arithmetic to a class of units in a system of numbers, weights or money (about 1430).^[4] The monetary sense, a value or unit of money, is recorded from the 1650s or 1660,^[2][3] and a class or kind of things or people distinguished by a name from 1664.^[4] Of persons, a group called by the same name dates from 1692 or the 1660s,^[4][2] out of which grew the now usual sense, a religious body with its own faith and organization, from before 1716.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) knew only "a name given to a thing".^[8]

Timeline

• before 1398 – a mentioning by name (obsolete by 1589).^[4][3]
• c. 1400 – the action of naming.^[4]
• c. 1430 – in arithmetic, a class of units of number, measure or money.^[4]
• before 1475 – a name or designation of a thing or class.^[4]
• 1660 – a value or kind of money.^[3]
• 1664 – a class or kind distinguished by a name.^[4]
• 1692 – a group of individuals called by the same name.^[4]
• before 1716 – a religious sect or body.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A religious group with its own beliefs and organization, within a wider faith: The village had chapels of three denominations.^[9][10][11]
2. One of a series of values or sizes, especially of currency, stamps or weights: notes of small denomination.^[9][10][11]
3. A name or designation, especially one for a class of things.^[9][11][4]
4. The act of naming.^[9][11][4]

Word family

• denominational
• denominationally
• denominationalism

Related words

• denominate
• denominator
• nominate
• noun
• name

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster