denominational

Etymology

It is formed from English denomination + -al.^[2][3][4][5] The noun goes back to Old French denominacion (“naming”), from Latin dēnōminātiō (“a calling by a name other than the proper one, metonymy”), a noun of action from dēnōminō (“to name”),^[3][2] formed from dē- (“completely”) and nōminō (“to name”), from nōmen (“name”), from Proto-Indo-European *no-men- (“name”).^[3] The religious sense of the noun, a sect or church body, dates from 1692 in the OED, but Etymonline gives 1716,^[2][3] and the adjective's main sense rests on it.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Belonging to, or of the nature of, a religious denomination or sect: 1838, in a work by W. E. Gladstone on the state's relations with the Church, published in 1839.^[2][3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1830–40.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word was used of schools and colleges run by a particular church, and of a denominational system of education.^[2][5] The OED also records a rare sense, "relating to a name", from 1892.^[2] The derivative denominationalism, a tendency to split into sects or to stress what divides them, is dated 1845 by Etymonline and 1855 by the 1989 edition of the OED.^[3][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also gives the extended sense "partisan, sectarian".^[7]

Timeline

• 1838 – belonging to a religious denomination or sect.^[2][3]
• 1892 – relating to a name or denomination (rare).^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a religious denomination: denominational differences over baptism.^[7][8][9]
2. Run or supported, at least in part, by a particular church or denomination: a denominational hospital.^[7][5][2]
3. Sectarian; partisan.^[7][2]

Word family

• denominationally
• denominationalism
• interdenominational
• nondenominational
• transdenominational
• undenominational

Related words

• denominate
• nominate
• nominal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers