trivial name

trivial name
A name of a chemical, no part of which is necessarily used in a systematic sense; i.e., it gives little or no indication as to chemical structure. Such names are common for drugs, hormones, proteins, and other biologicals, and are used by the general public. They may not be officially sanctioned, in contrast to nonproprietary name s, but may be adopted as official nonproprietary name s as a result of widespread usage. Examples are water, aspirin, chlorophyll, heme, methotrexate, folic acid, caffeine, thyroxine, epinephrine, barbital, etc.; also common abbreviations for chemically defined substances, such as ACTH, MSH, BAL, DDT, which are spoken as such and not in terms of the words they represent. The distinction between trivial and semitrivial name s is seldom made; thus tetrahydrofolate, methylglycine, glucosamine, etc., are often termed trivial even though each contains a systematic part that is used in the correct systematic sense (tetrahydro for four hydrogen atoms, methyl for a –CH3 group, amine for –NH2 in the above examples). Trivial names are often assigned arbitrarily to chemical compounds, especially from natural sources, before the chemical structures, hence systematic name s can be assigned. Also, they afford useful shortenings of long systematic name s even when these can be stated (although most such shortenings turn out to be semisystematic, as they incorporate some portion of the systematic name).

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triv·i·al name 'triv-ē-əl- n
1) SPECIFIC EPITHET
2) a common or vernacular name of an organism or chemical

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in chemical nomenclature, a name of a substance that does not reflect its chemical structure; many trivial names are semisystematic, e.g., the -ol in glycerol indicates that it is an alcohol.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Trivial name — Trivial Triv i*al, a. [L. trivialis, properly, that is in, or belongs to, the crossroads or public streets; hence, that may be found everywhere, common, fr. trivium a place where three roads meet, a crossroad, the public street; tri (see {Tri })… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • trivial name — n. 1. a common name or vernacular name, as of a plant or animal 2. former term for the specific name of an organism as distinct from the generic name in binomial nomenclature * * * …   Universalium

  • trivial name — n. 1. a common name or vernacular name, as of a plant or animal 2. former term for the specific name of an organism as distinct from the generic name in binomial nomenclature …   English World dictionary

  • Trivial name — In chemistry and zoology, a trivial name (also a common name or vernacular name ) is a non systematic name. That is, the name is not recognised according to the rules of any formal ( e.g. IUPAC) system of nomenclature. Many trivial names continue …   Wikipedia

  • trivial name — specific spe*cif ic (sp[ e]*s[i^]f [i^]k), a. [F. sp[ e]cifique, or NL. spesificus; L. species a particular sort or kind + facere to make. Cf. {specify}.] 1. Of or pertaining to a species; characterizing or constituting a species; possessing the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • trivial name — noun 1. : specific epithet 2. : the vernacular name of an organism as distinguished from the scientific name 3. : the common name for a chemical substance (as camphor or quinoline) a trivial name … differs from a systematic name in that it tells… …   Useful english dictionary

  • trivial name — noun a commonly used, non systematic name of a chemical compound. Trivial names for many compounds have been in use since long before their exact chemical structures were determined …   Wiktionary

  • trivial name — triv′ial name n. 1) bio the species name that follows the genus name in taxonomic classification 2) cvb the common or unscientific name of an organism or a chemical compound • Etymology: 1775–85 …   From formal English to slang

  • trivial name — an expression used by Linnaeus (as nomen triviale) and others for the specific name. Applied by some authors in the same sense as vernacular name …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • trivial name — An obsolete designation by Linnaeus for the specific name; vernacular name …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

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