I. ˈnä-mə-n ə l, ˈnäm-nəl adjective
Etymology: Middle English nominalle, from Medieval Latin nominalis, from Latin, of a name, from nomin-, nomen name — more at name
Date: 15th century
1. : of, relating to, or being a noun or a word or expression taking a noun construction
2.
a. : of, relating to, or constituting a name
b. : bearing the name of a person
3.
a. : existing or being something in name or form only
nominal head of his party
b. : of, being, or relating to a designated or theoretical size that may vary from the actual : approximate
the pipe's nominal size
c. : trifling , insignificant
his involvement was nominal
charged only nominal rent
4. of a rate of interest
a. : equal to the annual rate of simple interest that would obtain if interest were not compounded when in fact it is compounded and paid for periods of less than a year
b. : equal to the percentage by which a repaid loan exceeds the principal borrowed with no adjustment made for inflation
5. : being according to plan : satisfactory
everything was nominal during the launch
• nom·i·nal·ly adverb
II. noun
Date: 1904
: a word or word group functioning as a noun