DENOMINATION (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. denominare, to give a specific name to)  , the giving of a specific name to anything, hence the name or designation of a person or thing, and more particularly of a class of persons or things; thus, in arithmetic, it is applied to a unit in a system of weights and measures, currency or numbers . The most general use of " denomination " is for a body of persons holding specific opinions and having a common name, especially with reference to the religious opinions of such a body . More particularly the word is used of the various " sects " into which members of a common religious faith may be divided . The term " denominationalism " is thus given to the principle of emphasizing the distinctions, rather than the common ground, in the faith held by different bodies professing one sort of religious belief . This use is particularly applied to that system of religious education which lays stress on the principle that children belonging to a particular religious sect should be publicly taught in the tenets of their belief by members belonging to it and under the general control of the ministers of the denomination .