REPRESENTATIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does representative mean? 

• REPRESENTATIVE (noun)
  The noun REPRESENTATIVE has 4 senses:

1. a person who represents others

2. an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose

3. a member of the United States House of Representatives

4. an item of information that is typical of a class or group

  Familiarity information: REPRESENTATIVE used as a noun is uncommon.

• REPRESENTATIVE (adjective)
  The adjective REPRESENTATIVE has 3 senses:

1. serving to represent or typify

2. standing for something else

3. being or characteristic of government by representation in which citizens exercise power through elected officers and representatives

  Familiarity information: REPRESENTATIVE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REPRESENTATIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who represents others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("representative" is a kind of...):

negotiant; negotiator; treater (someone who negotiates (confers with others in order to reach a settlement))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "representative"):

delegate (a person appointed or elected to represent others)

union representative (a representative for a labor union)

resident commissioner (the representative of Puerto Rico in the United States House of Representatives)

personal representative (a person who manages the affairs of another)

chief of state; head of state (the chief public representative of a country who may also be the head of government)

emissary; envoy (someone sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else)

contact; middleman (a person who is in a position to give you special assistance)

assemblywoman (a woman assemblyman)

assemblyman (someone who is a member of a legislative assembly)

alderman (a member of a municipal legislative body (as a city council))

agent (a representative who acts on behalf of other persons or organizations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

interpreter; representative; spokesperson; voice

Context example:

the meeting was attended by spokespersons for all the major organs of government

Hypernyms ("representative" is a kind of...):

advocate; advocator; exponent; proponent (a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "representative"):

ambassador (an informal representative)

flack; flack catcher; flak; flak catcher (a slick spokesperson who can turn any criticism to the advantage of their employer)

mouth; mouthpiece (a spokesperson (as a lawyer))

spokesman (a male spokesperson)

spokeswoman (a female spokesperson)

bagman; commercial traveler; commercial traveller; roadman; traveling salesman; travelling salesman (a salesman who travels to call on customers)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A member of the United States House of Representatives

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

congressman; congresswoman; representative

Hypernyms ("representative" is a kind of...):

legislator (someone who makes or enacts laws)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "representative"):

rep (informal abbreviation of 'representative')

Sense 4

Meaning:

An item of information that is typical of a class or group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

example; illustration; instance; representative

Context example:

there is an example on page 10

Hypernyms ("representative" is a kind of...):

information (knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "representative"):

exception (an instance that does not conform to a rule or generalization)

case in point; precedent (an example that is used to justify similar occurrences at a later time)

quintessence (the most typical example or representative of a type)

sample (a small part of something intended as representative of the whole)

specimen (an example regarded as typical of its class)

apology; excuse (a poor example)

• REPRESENTATIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Serving to represent or typify

Context example:

a representative modern play

Similar:

typical (exhibiting the qualities or characteristics that identify a group or kind or category)

Derivation:

represent (be representative or typical for)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Standing for something else

Context example:

the bald eagle is representative of the United States

Similar:

allegoric; allegorical (used in or characteristic of or containing allegory)

emblematic; emblematical; symbolic; symbolical (serving as a visible symbol for something abstract)

Antonym:

nonrepresentative (not standing for something else)

Derivation:

represent (express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol)

represent (serve as a means of expressing something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Being or characteristic of government by representation in which citizens exercise power through elected officers and representatives

Context example:

representative government as defined by Abraham Lincoln is government of the people, by the people, for the people

Similar:

democratic (characterized by or advocating or based upon the principles of democracy or social equality)

Derivation:

represent (be a delegate or spokesperson for; represent somebody's interest or be a proxy or substitute for, as of politicians and office holders representing their constituents, or of a tenant representing other tenants in a housing dispute)

 Context examples 

Representative examples include metastatic carcinomas from the colon, breast, and lung.

(Metastatic Carcinoma to the Liver, NCI Thesaurus)

Representative examples include metastatic melanoma, and metastatic carcinomas from the breast and the stomach.

(Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm to the Gallbladder, NCI Thesaurus)

Representative examples of metastatic cancers to the stomach include breast, lung, and esophageal metastatic carcinomas and melanomas.

(Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm to the Stomach, NCI Thesaurus)

Representative examples include axillary lipoma, axillary lymph node lymphoma, and metastatic carcinoma to the axillary lymph nodes.

(Axillary Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

Representative examples include Burkitt lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.

(Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)

However, early fossil representatives of each of these groups have been found on northern continents, well outside their current ranges.

(Past climate change pushed birds from the northern hemisphere to the tropics, University of Cambridge)

Representative examples include Burkitt lymphoma, precursor B-lymphoblastic lymphoma, precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma, and adult T-cell lymphoma/leukemia.

(Aggressive Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Representative examples include infection, cholesteatoma, and carcinoma.

(Middle Ear Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Representative examples include adenoma, paraganglioma, and carcinoma.

(Middle Ear Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

A representative example is the respiratory distress syndrome.

(Neonatal Respiratory System Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)