representation is noun

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representation

[ rep-ri-zen- tey -sh uh n , -z uh n- ]

• the act of representing.
• the state of being represented.
• the expression or designation by some term, character, symbol, or the like.
• action or speech on behalf of a person, group, business house, state, or the like by an agent, deputy, or representative.

to demand representation on a board of directors.

• Government. the state, fact, or right of being represented by delegates having a voice in legislation or government.
• the body or number of representatives, as of a constituency.
• the act of speaking or negotiating on behalf of a state.
• an utterance on behalf of a state.
• presentation to the mind, as of an idea or image.
• a mental image or idea so presented; concept.
• the act of portrayal, picturing, or other rendering in visible form.
• a picture, figure, statue, etc.
• the production or a performance of a play or the like, as on the stage.
• Often representations. a description or statement, as of things true or alleged.
• a statement of facts, reasons, etc., made in appealing or protesting; a protest or remonstrance.

a representation of authority.

/ ˌrɛprɪzɛnˈteɪʃən /

• the act or an instance of representing or the state of being represented
• anything that represents, such as a verbal or pictorial portrait
• anything that is represented, such as an image brought clearly to mind
• the principle by which delegates act for a constituency
• a body of representatives
• contract law a statement of fact made by one party to induce another to enter into a contract
• an instance of acting for another, on his authority, in a particular capacity, such as executor or administrator
• a dramatic production or performance
• often plural a statement of facts, true or alleged, esp one set forth by way of remonstrance or expostulation

phonetic representation

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Other words from.

• nonrep·re·sen·tation noun
• over·repre·sen·tation noun
• prerep·re·sen·tation noun
• self-repre·sen·tation noun
• under·repre·sen·tation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of representation 1

Example Sentences

It was a metaphorical statement of giving and withdrawing consent for a show rooted in a literal representation of Coel being assaulted.

The mathematically manipulated results are passed on and augmented through the stages, finally producing an integrated representation of a face.

I hope this list—a representation of the most consequential changes taking places in our world—is similarly useful for you.

“Given the moment we are in, I can only hope our institutions really understand what this failure of representation means to our city,” he said.

The voters don’t want to have an elected city attorney on the, and representation said, that’s fine.

With all that said, representation of each of these respective communities has increased in the new Congress.

As this excellent piece in Mother Jones describes, however, Holsey had outrageously poor representation during his trial.

During that time days, Livvix went through court hearings without legal representation.

What do you think prompted the change in comic book representation of LGBTQ characters?

Barbie is an unrealistic, unhealthy, insulting representation of female appearance.

With less intelligent children traces of this tendency to take pictorial representation for reality may appear as late as four.

As observation widens and grows finer, the first bald representation becomes fuller and more life-like.

The child now aims at constructing a particular linear representation, that of a man, a horse, or what not.

He had heard it hinted that allowing the colonies representation in Parliament would be a simple plan for making taxes legal.

But sufficient can be discerned for the grasping of the idea, which seems to be a representation of the Nativity.

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representation noun 1

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What does the noun representation mean?

There are 19 meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun representation , three of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

representation has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

How common is the noun representation ?

How is the noun representation pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun representation come from.

Earliest known use

Middle English

The earliest known use of the noun representation is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).

OED's earliest evidence for representation is from around 1450, in St. Elizabeth of Spalbeck .

representation is of multiple origins. Either (i) a borrowing from French. Or (ii) a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: French representation ; Latin repraesentātiōn- , repraesentātiō .

Nearby entries

• reprehensory, adj. 1576–1825
• repremiation, n. 1611
• represent, n. a1500–1635
• represent, v.¹ c1390–
• re-present, v.² 1564–
• representable, adj. & n. 1630–
• representamen, n. 1677–
• representance, n. 1565–
• representant, n. 1622–
• representant, adj. 1851–82
• representation, n.¹ c1450–
• re-presentation, n.² 1805–
• representational, adj. 1850–
• representationalism, n. 1846–
• representationalist, adj. & n. 1846–
• representationary, adj. 1856–
• representationism, n. 1842–
• representationist, n. & adj. 1842–
• representation theory, n. 1928–
• representative, adj. & n. a1475–
• representative fraction, n. 1860–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for representation, n.¹.

representation, n.¹ was revised in December 2009.

representation, n.¹ was last modified in March 2024.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into representation, n.¹ in March 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1906)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View representation in OED Second Edition

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Citation details

Factsheet for representation, n.¹, browse entry.

Definition of 'representation'

• representation

Video: pronunciation of representation

representation in American English

Representation in british english, examples of 'representation' in a sentence representation, related word partners representation, trends of representation.

View usage over: Since Exist Last 10 years Last 50 years Last 100 years Last 300 years

In other languages representation

• American English : representation / rɛprɪzɛnˈteɪʃən /
• Brazilian Portuguese : representação
• Chinese : 代表
• European Spanish : representación
• French : représentation
• German : Vertretung
• Italian : rappresentanza
• Japanese : 代表
• Korean : 대표
• European Portuguese : representação
• Spanish : representación
• Thai : การมีตัวแทน

Browse alphabetically representation

• represent value
• representamen
• representant
• representation of reality
• representational
• representational painting
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'R'

Related terms of representation

• ensure representation
• equal representation
• exact representation
• fair representation
• false representation
• View more related words

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Meaning of representative in English

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• A representative from the tour company will meet you at the check-in .
• He visited China in his official capacity as America's trade representative.
• We have representatives operating in most countries .
• In order to increase the number of female representatives, the selection committee decided to discriminate in favour of women for three years .
• We elected him as our representative.
• alternatively
• bargain something away
• change over
• compensation
• make up for something
• someone's answer to someone/something idiom
• sub out something
• substitutability
• substitutable
• substitution
• substitutive

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

representative adjective ( TYPICAL )

• archetypically
• be someone all over idiom
• instantiate
• sum (something/someone) up
• symbolization

representative adjective ( ACTING FOR )

Representative | american dictionary, representative noun [c] ( act for ), representative adjective [not gradable] ( describe ), representative | business english, examples of representative, collocations with representative.

• representative

These are words often used in combination with representative .

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

Translations of representative

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relating to the scientific study of animals, especially their structure

Dead ringers and peas in pods (Talking about similarities, Part 2)

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• Representative
• representative (TYPICAL)
• representative (ACTING FOR)
• representative (ACT FOR)
• representative (DESCRIBE)
• a representative sample (of sth)
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• representation

noun as in description

Strongest matches

depiction , image , portrayal

Strong matches

adumbration , copy , delegation , delineation , design , duplicate , enactment , exhibition , illustration , imitation , impersonation , impression , likeness , narration , personification , reproduction

noun as in likeness

image , portrayal

account , chart , delegation , diagram , effigy , embodiment , graph , icon , illustration , map , model , picture , protest , sample , sketch , statement , symbol

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Example sentences.

It was a metaphorical statement of giving and withdrawing consent for a show rooted in a literal representation of Coel being assaulted.

The mathematically manipulated results are passed on and augmented through the stages, finally producing an integrated representation of a face.

I hope this list—a representation of the most consequential changes taking places in our world—is similarly useful for you.

“Given the moment we are in, I can only hope our institutions really understand what this failure of representation means to our city,” he said.

The voters don’t want to have an elected city attorney on the, and representation said, that’s fine.

With all that said, representation of each of these respective communities has increased in the new Congress.

As this excellent piece in Mother Jones describes, however, Holsey had outrageously poor representation during his trial.

During that time days, Livvix went through court hearings without legal representation.

What do you think prompted the change in comic book representation of LGBTQ characters?

Barbie is an unrealistic, unhealthy, insulting representation of female appearance.

With less intelligent children traces of this tendency to take pictorial representation for reality may appear as late as four.

As observation widens and grows finer, the first bald representation becomes fuller and more life-like.

The child now aims at constructing a particular linear representation, that of a man, a horse, or what not.

He had heard it hinted that allowing the colonies representation in Parliament would be a simple plan for making taxes legal.

But sufficient can be discerned for the grasping of the idea, which seems to be a representation of the Nativity.

Related Words

Words related to representation are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word representation . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

noun as in coming into sight

• actualization
• introduction
• manifestation
• materialization
• presentation

noun as in creation meant to communicate or appeal to senses or mind

• abstraction
• description
• illustration
• pictorialization
• symbolization

noun as in personal interest

• countenance
• encouragement
• furtherance
• recommendation

noun as in funny drawing, often with dialogue or caption

• comic strip

noun as in statement of disagreement, discontent

• dissatisfaction
• expostulation
• fault-finding
• protestation
• remonstrance
• remonstration

Viewing 5 / 84 related words

On this page you'll find 123 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to representation, such as: depiction, image, portrayal, adumbration, copy, and delegation.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

What is a Noun?

Most of us have been taught that a noun is a word that refers to a person, place, or thing. While this is true, it is helpful to think of thing as a broad category; a thing does not have to be something that you can hold in your hand (a mountain, a place, and a feeling can all be things ). Here are some examples of nouns:

Toni Morrison is my favorite writer. ( Toni Morrison is a noun and a person) I do not want to go to Seattle . ( Seattle is a noun and a place) I will eat that marshmallow . ( Marshmallow is a noun and a thing) Eating the marshmallow gave me happiness . ( Happiness is a noun and a thing).

Nouns can also refer to an animal ( moose ), a quality ( softness ), an idea ( zero ), or an action (as in “her singing was beautiful”). Nouns can name someone or something generally ( dog, seashore, friend ) or specifically ( Great Pyrenees, Cape Cod, Sally ). And although most nouns consist of a single word, some do not: school bus, Italian dressing, and chuck-will’s-widow are all nouns.

Nouns can be singular ('one sandwich ') or plural ('two sandwiches '), although some nouns take the same form regardless ('one sheep ,' 'two sheep '). Nouns can also refer to concepts ( information ) that cannot be counted and singular entities ( Neptune ) that cannot be pluralized.

Sentences can have one noun (“ Theo ran quickly.”) or more than one (“ Theo ran quickly across the field .”) but some sentences don’t have any (“Run, quickly!”).

Other parts of speech: What is an adjective? What is an adverb? What is a preposition? What is a verb?

Other articles you may be interested in: Adjectives that look like nouns Nouns that look like adjectives

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Definition of representative adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• representative
• Is a questionnaire answered by 500 people truly representative of the population as a whole?
• The paper-thin models in magazines are not representative of most women.
• Some residents argued that the protesters were not representative of the community.
• The painting is not representative of his work of the period.
• consider somebody/​something

Questions about grammar and vocabulary?

Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English.

• We interviewed a representative sample of teachers.
• Exhibits include a widely representative collection of Greek vases.
• a broadly representative sample
• a nationally representative picture of the employment situation
• a representative democracy
• the advent of modern representative government

Other results

• Representative
• sales representative

Nearby words