denomination

Etymology

From Middle English denominacion, from Old French denominacion, from Latin dēnōminātiō.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˌnɒmɪˈneɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

• Audio:

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• Audio (Southern England):

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Noun

denomination (countable and uncountable, plural denominations)

1. (uncountable) The act of naming or designating.
2. (countable) That by which anything is denominated or styled; an epithet; a name, designation, or title; especially, a general name indicating a class of like individuals.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 46:

     "Will you allow me to present Sir George Evelyn to you?—the most accomplished coquet that ever 'Dealt destruction round the land On all he judged a foe;' under which denomination he ranks all women."

3. (countable, religion) A class, or society of individuals, called by the same name; a subdivision of a religion.

   Hyponyms: order, sect

   She follows the Ahmadiyya denomination of Islam.

   • 2011, Paul M. Collins, Barry A. Ensign-George, Denomination: Assessing an Ecclesiological Category, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 6:

     Denomination does more than create space in which to discern, however. It also provides a means for living out differing forms of a faithful Christian life.

4. (countable) A unit in a series of units of weight, money, etc.

   What denomination is that money? They are all 50 euro notes.

   • 1896, William Graham Sumner, chapter 11, in History of Banking in the United States:

     In 1823, a further issue of treasury notes was ordered to the amount of $100,000, in denominations of five to seventy-five cents, receivable for dues to the State.

Further reading

• religious denomination on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• denomination (currency) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “denomination”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “denomination”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.