Quote: a name may uniquely identify an individual by attributes; uniqueness may be part of the name, e.g., 'only...', 'first...' or 'father of...'

Quotation

A name] may be significant of some attribute or some union of attributes which, being possessed by no object but one, determines the name exclusively to that individual. ... It may be part of the meaning of the connotative name itself, that there can exist but one individual possessing the attribute which it connotes, as, for instance "the only son of John Stiles"; "the first emperor of Rome." [Or, the name could apply to only one individual, e.g. "the father of Socrates." Or, a many-worded name could be so constrained as to apply to only one individual] This is exemplified in such an instance as the following: "the present Prime Minister of England."   Google-1   Google-2

Published before 1923

Related Topics

Topic: denoting phrases and definite descriptions (21 items)