different between flighty vs notional

English

Etymology

From flight +? -y. Compare Dutch vluchtig (“volatile; fleeting; cursory”), German flüchtig (“volatile; fleeting; momentary; quick”), Danish flygtig (“elusive; evasive”), Swedish flyktig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fla?ti/

Adjective

flighty (comparative flightier, superlative flightiest)

1. Given to unplanned and silly ideas or actions.
2. (of a bird) That flies easily or often.
   • 2013, Diego Gil, Henrik Brumm, Avian Urban Ecology

     "We know that flighty birds suffer from greater risk of raptor predation, and I assume that it is useful to understand the effects of urbanization because flighty species may be more vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance."

3. (obsolete) Swift.

Translations

English

Etymology

notion +? -al

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n????n?l/
• Rhymes: -????n?l

Adjective

notional (comparative more notional, superlative most notional)

1. Of, containing, or being a notion; mental or imaginary.
2. Speculative, theoretical, not the result of research.

   This paper proposes a notional Federated Identity Management (FIM) architecture.

3. (linguistics) Having descriptive value as opposed to a syntactic category.
4. (finance) Used to indicate an estimate or a reference amount
5. (informal) Full of ideas or imaginings.
   • 1995, Walter D. Edmonds, In the Hands of the Senecas (page 137)

     She knew what Pete would say if she told him about it — he would say she was getting notional; and she did not want Pete to think of her as a notional woman. Notional women sometimes had a hard time marrying unless they had money.

Derived terms

• notionality
• notionally

Translations

Noun

notional (plural notionals)

1. A fake company used as a front in espionage.
   • 2012, Joseph C. Goulden, Peter Earnest, The Dictionary of Espionage: Spyspeak Into English (page 157)

     Numerous CIA notionals, created to counter Communist organizations in Western Europe during the Cold War years, remain active and unrevealed.