rhizoverbBeta
DictionarynominalToken amount
adjective

nominal

NAH-muh-nul/ˈnɑːmɪnl/

Very small in amount, especially as a token payment.

The visitor pays a nominal admission fee of one cent.

A visitor pays a token one-cent admission fee at a staffed entrance: a single penny, a coin-operated turnstile and its tiny price display make the very small amount concrete.
Etymology
nominalisLatinpertaining to a name

What belonged to names came to mean existing only as a name, then slight in real amount.

More examples

  • The club charges a nominal membership fee.
  • They rent the room for a nominal sum.

Forms

nominal

Similar words

token
Small and mainly symbolic.
minimal
As little as possible or very little, without necessarily a symbolic role.