Make Your Point > Archived Issues > APPELLATION

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pronounce APPELLATION: Say it "APP uh LAY shun." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: As we check out the word appellation, meaning "a name or nickname, often an informative one," see if you can recall a similar term: S_____uet, which comes straight from French, literally means both "nickname" and "little joke." In English, it's a name or a label that's cuter, more playful, more familiar, more interesting, more descriptive, or more complimentary, compared to that person or thing's real name. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)   definition: "Appellation" comes from the Latin appellare, meaning "to name someone, to address someone, or to appeal to someone." An appellation is a name or a nickname. In other words, it's a word or phrase that you use to refer to someone or something. Often it's descriptive, and often it's secondary: used in addition to the primary name. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Noun, the countable kind: "You don't want to hear how he earned the appellation 'Dirty John;'" "historic wine-producing countries with strict rules governing appellations (New York Times)." Other forms:  The plural is "appellations." There's a rare verb, "appellate," pronounced "APP uh late." If you appellate things, you're naming them. The other forms are "appellated" and "appellating." The adjective is "appellative," or, less commonly, "appellational." I doubt you'll ever need the adverb, but here it is: "appellatively." how to use it: When "nickname" and "moniker" are too casual, and when "sobriquet" is too rare and too formal, pick the common, semi-formal word "appellation." An appellation can be a specific name itself, like "the King of Pop" or "the Tri-Cities," and it can also be the name of a category or a distinction, like "first class," "neuropsychologist," "diva," or "hero." You might talk about how a person, place, or thing got or earned its appellation, or how it deserves or lives up to its appellation, or how it's trying to change or shed its appellation. Finally, we should note that in the world of fine wines, appellations are carefully controlled and defined. Here's an example: "When the St.-Joseph appellation was founded in 1956, it was intended to convey the qualities of wine grown on steep granite hillsides clustered near six villages" (New York Times). examples: "Chicago is a proud and noble city, on the edge of a great lake. The lake makes it windy, hence its appellation: the Windy City."    — Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train, 2013 "I met [a drink] with effacement in its very appellation... a Negroni Sbagliato... Translated from Italian, it means a bungled Negroni. A Negroni in error. A mistake."    — Frank Bruni, New York Times, 28 April 2011    has this page helped you understand "appellation"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "appellation" without saying "nickname" or "epithet." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Something) (has a certain quality), which explains its appellation, _____." Example 1: "For generations, the Jews have gone to the city wall to weep their nation's fate, which explains its appellation, the Wailing Wall."    — Manny Baldemore, Manila Times, 13 November 2005    Example 2: "The van was an old, sturdy, capacious thing with a hideous paint job, which explained its appellation, the Doo-Doo Brown." If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for this month is Rhyming Puzzles! I'll give you a description of something, and you name it in a rhyming phrase.  Longtime readers will recognize this game from years past, when we grappled with silly answers like "shopworn popcorn," "hidebound guide hound," "cow chow kowtow," "unflagging pun bragging," and "catch-as-catch-can Etch A Sketch fan." The answers will get longer as the month goes on. To see the clue, click the link. To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy! Try this one today: Because the sermon is usually about sin and damnation and hellfire and such, today it surprised everyone by being about kindness. It was a ______ _______. Two words. The first word is three syllables; the second word is four syllables. Clue: use this word. review this word: 1. The opposite of APPELLATED is A. UNNAMED. B. UNMARKED. C. UNEXAMINED. 2. In The 24-Hour Genius, Eric Epstein cites Thomas Edison: "We _____, and we all were proud of the appellation." A. neglected food and sleep in our obsessive quest B. became known in the factory as the 'insomnia squad' C. put in from one hundred forty five to one hundred fifty hours a week each Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B Answer to the game question: It was a homily anomaly. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.