Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Appellative \Ap*pel"la*tive\, a. [L. appellativus, fr.
   appellare: cf. F. appelatif. See {Appeal}.]
   1. Pertaining to a common name; serving as a distinctive
      denomination; denominative; naming. --Cudworth.

   2. (Gram.) Common, as opposed to {proper}; denominative of a
      class.

Appellative \Ap*pel"la*tive\, n. [L. appelativum, sc. nomen.]
   1. A common name, in distinction from a proper name. A common
      name, or appellative, stands for a whole class, genus, or
      species of beings, or for universal ideas. Thus, tree is
      the name of all plants of a particular class; plant and
      vegetable are names of things that grow out of the earth.
      A proper name, on the other hand, stands for a single
      thing; as, Rome, Washington, Lake Erie.

   2. An appellation or title; a descriptive name.

            God chosen it for one of his appellatives to be the
            Defender of them.                     --Jer. Taylor.

Source : WordNet®

appellative
     adj 1: pertaining to or dealing with or used as a common noun
     2: inclined to or serving for the giving of names; "the
        appellative faculty of children"; "the appellative
        function of some primitive rites" [syn: {naming(a)}]
     n : identifying word or words by which someone or something is
         called and classified or distinguished from others [syn:
         {appellation}, {denomination}, {designation}]