Appellative is a noun that refers to a descriptive name or designation. It can also be used as an adjective that means relating to or denoting the giving of a name.

The Latin word appellare (ah pel LAR ay) means ‘to address.’ This is the origin of our word of the day. An appellative can be used formally or informally, meaning words like ‘Doctor’ or ‘professor’ can be appellatives, but so can words like ‘shorty’ or ‘blondie.’

It took a while to know which appellative was appropriate to address my boss, Pastor Harris. He was an ordained minister, but also a college professor and a Ph.D. But after getting to know him, his easy-going personality made it impossible to call him anything other than ‘Fred.’