notional

American  

[noh-shuh-nl] / ˈnoʊ ʃə nl /

adjective

1. pertaining to or expressing a notion or idea.

2. of the nature of a notion or idea.

   a notional response to the question.

3. abstract, theoretical, or speculative, as reflective thought.

4. not real or actual; ideal or imaginary.

   to create a notional world for oneself.

5. given to or full of foolish or fanciful ideas or moods.

6. Grammar.

   1. relating to the meaning expressed by a linguistic form.

   2. having full lexical meaning, in contrast to relational.

7. Semantics. belonging to a class of words that express clear concepts rather than relations between concepts; presentive.

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notional British  

/ ˈnəʊʃənəl /

adjective

1. relating to, expressing, or consisting of notions or ideas

2. not evident in reality; hypothetical or imaginary

   a notional tax credit

3. characteristic of a notion or concept, esp in being speculative or imaginary; abstract

4. grammar

   1. (of a word) having lexical meaning

   2. another word for semantic

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Other Word Forms

• notionality
  noun
• nonnotional
  adjective
• unnotional
  adjective
• notionally
  adverb
• unnotionally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of notional

First recorded in 1590–1600; notion + -al ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

notional

England began a baking final day with scant hope of an escape, resuming on 182-5, chasing a notional 463.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

U.S. notional volume of levered ETFs is about $90 billion, up from almost nothing a decade ago, per Goldman Sachs data.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

The reports reflect notional positioning levels that include funds’ holdings of both stocks and derivatives, Kizemchuk said.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 27, 2026

Anthropic’s dispute with the government is more than “just notional or just symbolic,” he said, and carries real risk for the company.

From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026

Bookkeeping turns everything into a notional cash value, even though you do not actually know if you will ever sell it or what you will get for it if you do.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton