The Latin word nomina is translated as "names", "names". And when they try to separate things using their names, or the designations are used as the basis for the differences, rather than some real properties, then we are talking about nominal differences.
There is another meaning, where nominal is a word that characterizes something by its superficial, limited meaning.
Salaries and prices
If wages are taken simply as an amount in monetary terms, not taking into account inflation and average statistics (when the income of the director of the bank and the janitor is summed up and divided by 2), these values are called nominal.
You can say so about the price. The same thing matters and the word "face value", by the way. These are the numbers that are indicated in any price list and are called the nominal value of the goods.
Business
Having dealt with the basic meanings of the word, we turn to today's everyday definition of the term. There is a whole nominal service that solves a wide range of tasks:
- There are some companies and document flow between them. The director is the same person who, of course, cannot sign contracts with himself. The nominee director will help.
- To increase prestige, the company opens an account with a respectable bank in another country. But its representatives want to conduct business exclusively with their compatriot. A citizen of this country and will act as the face value. The meaning of the word is the same as that of the concepts “dummy”, “fictitious”. But however, the “face value” does not bear a negative connotation.
- The nominee director directs only formally. He is called to observe the anonymity of the one who truly runs the business. Any company insures itself reliably against attacks on the property and money of the organization with such a denomination. At the same time, he himself may face criminal liability. The latter happens if the whole idea was, say, tax concealment.
- Less popular, but nevertheless, performers of the positions of nominee shareholder and nominee secretary are in demand.
Power
The word "nominal" in the meaning of "so-called, fictitious" is applied to such a concept as power. In this context, it acts exclusively “for show”. The people from the nominal power are of little use, because its powers exist only for the species, and the real leadership is carried out from behind the scenes.
Not on a state, but on a smaller production scale, with an increase in the professionalism of the leader, the sphere of his real power is noticeably expanding. Such a chapter is less and less satisfied with the rating, which does not allow to fully influence the processes and key aspects for which he is responsible.
