The adjective nominal (ultimately from Latin nōmen, "name") generally relates to the concept of names, and often to the difference between what something is in name (ideally or theoretically) and what it is in reality. A name ( Etymology: from OE nama akin to OHG namo, Latin Nomen, and Greek όνομα ( An ideal is a Principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal. The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of Knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion.

Contents 1 General principles 2 Specific meanings deriving from the general concepts above 2.1 Economics 2.2 Engineering 2.3 Law 2.4 Linguistics 2.5 Statistics

General principles

A nominal quantity (e. g. , length, diameter, speed, volume, voltage, value) is generally the ideal quantity according to which some item has been named. Such a nominal value may often be different from the actual value, having a relation to the actual value that is anywhere on a spectrum from closely related (for example, differing only within a range of acceptable random variation) to only distantly related. An example of the former is a type of battery that has an actual voltage of 1. 62 V, but is called a "1. 5 volt battery"; it has a nominal voltage of 1. 5 V (which cannot be measured anywhere). An example of the latter is the nominal size 2×4 for dimensional lumber: its actual size is 1½″ × 3½″ (38×89 mm) (plus or minus some small tolerance). Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or

In human cognition, there are at least two concepts that relate to a difference between what something is in name and what it is in reality: (1) whether we even perceive that the difference exists; and (2) if so, whether we judge that the difference matters to us. A judgment in one case that the difference is very important and another judgment in another case that the difference is very unimportant can both relate to the concept of "in name only": we emphasize that the difference exists, in order to implicitly emphasize either its importance or unimportance. In the latter case (unimportance), the word nominal can approach synonymity with "small" or "unimportant", such as in the phrase paying a nominal fee. This article deals with the general meaning of the term "synonym" The fee is a monetary expense in name only; in reality, the amount does not matter very much. In the former case (importance), the word nominal can emphasize the irony of false appearances or assumptions, such as when a certain police department is especially corrupt—because we archetypically equate police to "the good guys", we may emphasize the badness of this department by saying that they are nominally the face of law and order in their community: that is, in name only.

Specific meanings deriving from the general concepts above

Economics

Further information: Real versus nominal value

In economics, a nominal value is the listed value of an item in a monetary currency as opposed to the 'real' value in terms of purchasing power. The distinction between real versus nominal value occurs in many fields Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. See real versus nominal value. The distinction between real versus nominal value occurs in many fields A nominal interest rate may refer to either a rate of interest that is not re-stated to correct for compounding, or an interest rate that does not take into account inflation (to derive the real interest rate). In finance and economics nominal interest rate or nominal rate of interest refers to the rate of Interest before adjustment for inflation (in contrast with the In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time The " real interest rate " is approximately the Nominal interest rate minus the Inflation rate (see Fisher equation and below for exact equation

Engineering

In engineering, nominal regarding measurements generally can be defined as "what is predicted without considering what deviation may occur or whether it is acceptable"; or "what is predicted plus or minus X number of standard deviations". Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and In Probability and Statistics, the standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a collection of values The use of the phrase "all systems nominal" at NASA indicates that telemetry is reading as expected from historical data trends. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program This concept often overlaps with the layperson's sense of the word normal, but nominal does not always mean normal.

Law

In law, nominal damages may be assessed by a jury or judge in a lawsuit when it is found that the defendant committed the act complained of by the plaintiff, but that no harm was suffered by the plaintiff as a result. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society In Law, damages refers to the money paid or awarded to a Claimant (England Pursuer (Scotland or Plaintiff (US following a successful

Linguistics

In linguistics, a nominal is a word or group of words functioning as a noun. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields In linguistics a Nominal is a part of speech that shares features with nouns and adjectives. The word is also sometimes used as a shortened form of "nominal phrase", a synonym for "noun phrase". In grammatical theory, a noun phrase (abbreviated NP) is a Phrase whose head is a Noun or a Pronoun, optionally accompanied "Nominal" can also mean a sequence of one or more nouns that do not form a complete noun phrase. In grammatical theory, a noun phrase (abbreviated NP) is a Phrase whose head is a Noun or a Pronoun, optionally accompanied In other uses, it refers to a class of word that encapsulates both parts of speech in English as nouns and adjectives.

Statistics

In statistics, nominal data is a form of categorical data where the order of the categories is not significant. Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. The level of Measurement of a Variable in Mathematics and Statistics is a classification that is used to describe the nature of information These are Statistical procedures which can be used for the analysis of categorical data: regression Analysis of variance This is sometimes contracted to nominals.

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic