representative

adjective

1. 1

   Typical; having the same properties or interest as a larger group.

   THE POCKET ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF BRITISH STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. By O. S. Nock. Blandford Press. 18s. Mr. Nock, he remarks in his preface, was "incredulous" when the idea of this book of 192 colour gravure illustrations of a representative collection of British steam locomotives from Locomotion to BR's Evening Star was broached to him.

   If you took all the fools out of the legislature, it wouldn't be a representative body anymore.

2. 2

   Representing, showing a likeness.

   Are you sure this paper is representative of your child's writing?

   the representative faculty of the human imagination

noun

1. 1

   A delegate. Someone who represents others as a member of a legislative or governing body.

   She served four terms as representative of her local at the national union convention.

   Each vessel in the Fleet has the right to send representatives to the Conclave aboard the flagship. The number of representatives is based on crew size. Larger clans, with bigger ships and more votes, form the cores of political blocs. Opposition comes from the Outriders' Coalition, with delegates from thousands of smaller ships.

2. 2

   A delegate. One who speaks for or acts on behalf of another in a particular (especially official) capacity.

   I will send a representative to work out the details of the contract.

3. 3

   A delegate. An heir.

   This pathetic remonstrance had the desired effect upon his representative, who spared no pains to fulfill the request of the deceased […].

4. 4

   A delegate. Specifically, a member of the United States House of Representatives.

   All representatives face re-election every two years.

5. 5

   A delegate. A company agent who visits potential purchasers; a salesman.

6. 6

   Something standing for something else. Something representing or standing for another; a symbol, an embodiment.

   The furniture was the same when she married..[ ]..The only representatives of to-day, were two large and comfortable arm-chairs, and a few elegant-looking trifles, the work of the Misses Granard.

   […] whereas a tiny group with no roots in the working class was entitled, so long as it professed the Marxist ideology, to declare itself the sole representative of the proletariat and the sole embodiment of proletarian consciousness.

7. 7

   Something standing for something else. A member of a particular class.

   The USS Manila Bay, in the next group south of Taffy 3, services aircraft from eleven different squadrons that aren't attached to her own flight group, and, at one point, has representatives from no less than four other carriers' airgroups on her flight deck at the same time.

8. 8

   Something standing for something else. A member of a particular class. Something (especially a living organism) regarded as typical of its class; a type.

9. 9

   Something standing for something else. A member of a particular class. A consistent choice of element from an equivalence class, used to identify it.

10. 10

    Something standing for something else. A substitute or analogue.

Forms

plural

representatives

comparative

more representative

superlative

most representative