/ ˌreprɪˈzentətɪv; NAmE / noun , adjective
■ noun representative (of sb/sth)
1.
a person who has been chosen to speak or vote for sb else or on behalf of a group :
a representative of the UN
our elected representatives in government
a union representative
The committee includes representatives from industry.
2.
(also informal rep ) a person who works for a company and travels around selling its products :
a sales representative
She's our representative in France.
3.
a person chosen to take the place of sb else :
He was the Queen's representative at the ceremony.
4.
a person who is typical of a particular group :
The singer is regarded as a representative of the youth of her generation.
5.
Representative ( abbr. Rep. ) (in the US) a member of the House of Representatives, the Lower House of Congress; a member of the House of Representatives in the lower house of a state parliament
■ adjective
1.
representative (of sb/sth) typical of a particular group of people :
Is a questionnaire answered by 500 people truly representative of the population as a whole?
2.
[ usually before noun ] containing or including examples of all the different types of people or things in a large group :
a representative sample of teachers
3.
representative (of sth) able to be used as a typical example of sth :
The painting is not representative of his work of the period.
4.
( of a system of government, etc. ) consisting of people who have been chosen to speak or vote on behalf of the rest of a group :
a representative democracy
OPP unrepresentative
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : from Old French representatif , -ive or medieval Latin repraesentativus , from the verb repraesentare exhibit, from re- (expressing intensive force) + praesentare to present.