The Collaborative International Dictionary
Denotative \De*not"a*tive\, a. Having power to denote; designating or marking off.
Proper names are pre["e]minently denotative; telling us
that such as object has such a term to denote it, but
telling us nothing as to any single attribute.
--Latham.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1610s, from Latin denotat-, past participle stem of denotare (see denote) + -ive.
Wiktionary
a. 1 That denotes or names; designative 2 specific to the primary meaning of a term
WordNet
adj. having the power of explicitly denoting or designating or naming [syn: denotive] [ant: connotative]
in accordance with fact or the primary meaning of a term [syn: explicit]
Usage examples of "denotative".
The words we've lost tend to be connotative, and the ones we've gained tend to be denotative.