What does nominating mean?
Nominating is the act of putting forward a person’s name for an election, appointment, award, or other position. It can also refer more generally to the process of choosing someone for a role, as in the work of a nominating committee. The word is the present participle of nominate and is typically used as a verb or in an attributive compound: a committee is nominating candidates, a party is nominating a spokesperson, or a nominating committee will shortlist applicants. It is formal and institutional in tone, common in politics, organizations, elections, and award procedures, though it is not limited to those settings. “Nominating” differs from “naming” by implying that a formal selection or proposal is involved, and it differs from “appointing,” which usually describes formally installing someone after a choice has been made. The word is useful when the selection process itself matters: someone may be nominated without being elected or appointed. Its Latin ancestry, through nominate and the root nomen, connects it to a broad family including nomination, nominee, nominal, and nomenclature.
To put forward someone's name as a candidate for election or for selection to a position, post, award, or honour.
"The club is nominating a new treasurer at its annual meeting."
Often takes a person as its object and may be followed by “for” and the position or honour sought.
Having the function or responsibility of putting forward candidates or proposed choices.
"The nominating committee will interview the finalists next week."
This attributive use is especially common before “committee” and “commission.”
A nominating committee puts names forward; an election or appointing body decides what happens next.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of nominating
“Nominating” is the English present participle of nominate, formed by adding the suffix “-ing.” The verb comes from Latin nomināre, meaning “to name” or “to call by name,” which in turn derives from nomen, the Latin word for “name.” Related English words include nomination, nominee, nominal, and nomenclature.
Related word forms
How nominating is actually used
Formal and institutional in tone, especially common in political, organizational, electoral, and award contexts. It is also frequently used attributively before words such as committee or commission.
Easily confused with nominating
Nominating means putting forward a candidate or proposed choice, whereas nominative is a grammatical term for the case of nouns and pronouns functioning as the subject of a clause.