non-designative
|non-design-a-tive|
🇺🇸
/ˌnɑn.dɪˈzɪɡ.nə.tɪv/
🇬🇧
/ˌnɒn.dɪˈzɪɡ.nə.tɪv/
not serving to designate
Etymology
'non-designative' originates from modern English by combining the negative prefix 'non-' (from Latin/Old French usage, meaning 'not') with 'designative'. 'Designative' ultimately comes from Latin 'designare', where 'de-' functioned as an intensifier/away and 'signare' meant 'to mark'.
'designare' (Latin) gave rise to Old French/Norman forms such as 'designer'/'designer', then to Middle English 'desigen'/'designen' and the verb 'designate' in Early Modern English; the adjective 'designative' developed from 'designate' with the adjectival suffix '-ive', and the modern compound 'non-designative' formed by prefixing 'non-' to that adjective.
Initially Latin 'designare' meant 'to mark out' or 'to designate', and 'designative' meant 'serving to designate'; over time the compound 'non-designative' has come to mean 'not serving to designate' — i.e., lacking referential/denotative function.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not designative; not serving to designate or refer to a specific entity — used to describe words, phrases, or uses that are non-referential or non-denotative.
In that sentence the word 'this' is used in a non-designative sense, referring to a general idea rather than a specific object.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/20 23:30