What is "trivial name"

specific \spe*cif"ic\ (sp[-e]*s[i^]f"[i^]k), a. [F. sp['e]cifique, or NL. spesificus; L. species a particular sort or kind + facere to make. Cf. specify.]

1. Of or pertaining to a species; characterizing or constituting a species; possessing the peculiar property or properties of a thing which constitute its species, and distinguish it from other things; as, the specific form of an animal or a plant; the specific qualities of a drug; the specific distinction between virtue and vice.

   Specific difference is that primary attribute which distinguishes each species from one another.
   --I. Watts.

2. Specifying; definite, or making definite; limited; precise; discriminating; as, a specific statement.

3. (Med.) Exerting a peculiar influence over any part of the body; preventing or curing disease by a peculiar adaptation, and not on general principles; as, quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria. In fact, all medicines will be found specific in the perfection of the science. --Coleridge. Specific character (Nat. Hist.), a characteristic or characteristics distinguishing one species from every other species of the same genus. Specific disease (Med.)

   1. A disease which produces a determinate definite effect upon the blood and tissues or upon some special tissue.

   2. A disease which is itself uniformly produced by a definite and peculiar poison or organism.

      Specific duty. (Com.) See under Duty.

      Specific gravity. (Physics) See under Gravity.

      Specific heat (Physics), the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of a body one degree, taking as the unit of measure the quantity required to raise the same weight of water from zero to one degree; thus, the specific heat of mercury is 0.033, that of water being 1.000.

      Specific inductive capacity (Physics), the effect of a dielectric body in producing static electric induction as compared with that of some other body or bodies referred to as a standard.

      Specific legacy (Law), a bequest of a particular thing, as of a particular animal or piece of furniture, specified and distinguished from all others.
      --Wharton.
      --Burrill.

      Specific name (Nat. Hist.), the name which, appended to the name of the genus, constitutes the distinctive name of the species; -- originally applied by Linn[ae]us to the essential character of the species, or the essential difference. The present specific name he at first called the trivial name.

      Specific performance (Law), the peformance of a contract or agreement as decreed by a court of equity.

n. a commonly used, non-systematic name of a chemical compound. Trivial names for many compounds have been in use since long before their exact chemical structures were determined.

In chemistry, a trivial name is a non systematic name for a chemical substance. That is, the name is not recognized according to the rules of any formal system of chemical nomenclature such as IUPAC inorganic or IUPAC organic nomenclature. A trivial name is not a formal name and is usually a common name.

Generally, trivial names are not useful in describing the essential properties of the thing being named. Properties such as the molecular structure of a chemical compound are not indicated. And, in some cases, trivial names can be ambiguous or will carry different meanings in different industries or in different geographic regions. (For example, a trivial name such as white metal can mean various things.) On the other hand, systematic names can be so convoluted and difficult to parse that their trivial names are preferred. As a result, a limited number of trivial chemical names are retained names, an accepted part of the nomenclature.

Trivial names often arise in the common language; they may come from historic usages in, for example, alchemy. Many trivial names pre-date the institution of formal naming conventions. Names can be based on a property of the chemical, including appearance (color, taste or smell), consistency, and crystal structure; a place where it was found or where the discoverer comes from; the name of a scientist; a mythological figure; an astronomical body; the shape of the molecule; and even fictional figures. All elements that have been isolated have trivial names.