- Representative
- Representative Rep`re*sent"a*tive, n. [Cf. LL.
repraesentativus.]
[1913 Webster]
1. One who, or that which, represents (anything); that which
exhibits a likeness or similitude.
[1913 Webster]
A statute of Rumor, whispering an idiot in the ear, who was the representative of Credulity. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
Difficulty must cumber this doctrine which supposes that the perfections of God are the representatives to us of whatever we perceive in the creatures. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
2. An agent, deputy, or substitute, who supplies the place of another, or others, being invested with his or their authority. [1913 Webster]
3. (Law) One who represents, or stands in the place of, another. [1913 Webster]
Note: The executor or administrator is ordinarily held to be the representative of a deceased person, and is sometimes called the legal representative, or the personal representative. The heir is sometimes called the real representative of his deceased ancestor. The heirs and executors or administrators of a deceased person are sometimes compendiously described as his real and personal representatives. --Wharton. Burrill. [1913 Webster]
4. A member of the lower or popular house in a State legislature, or in the national Congress. [U.S.] [1913 Webster]
5. (Nat.Hist.) (a) That which presents the full character of the type of a group. (b) A species or variety which, in any region, takes the place of a similar one in another region. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.