to
signify the possession of certain attributes.

A man may be nicknamed on a ground, but if the name sticks and is
often used, the original meaning is forgotten. If it suggests
the individual in any one of his qualities, any point in which he
resembles other individuals, it is no longer a Proper or Singular name
logically, that is, in logical function. That function is fulfilled
when it has called to mind the individual intended.

To ask, as is sometimes done, whether Proper names are connotative or
denotative, is merely a confusion of language. The distinction between
connotation and denotation, extension and intension, applies only to
general names. Unless a name is general, it has neither extension nor
intension:[3] a Proper or Singular name is essentially the opposite of
a general name and has neither the one nor the other.

A nice distinction may be drawn between Proper and Singular names,
though they are strict synonyms for the same logical function. It is
not essential to the discharge of that function that the name should
be strictly appropriated to one object. There are many Toms and many
Dicks. It is enough that the word indicates the individual without
confusion in the particular circumstances.

This function may be discharged by words and combinations of words
that are not Proper in the grammatical sense. "This man," "the cover
of this book," "the Prime Minister of England," "the seer of Chelsea,"
may be Singular names as much as Honolulu or Lord Tennyson.

In common speech Singular names are often manufactured _ad hoc_
by taking a general name and narrowing it down by successive
qualifications till it applies only to one individual, as "The leading
subject of the Sovereign of England at the present time". If it so
happens that an individual has some attribute or combination peculiar
to himself, he may be suggested by the mention of that attribute
or combination:--"the inventor of the steam-engine," "the author of
Hudibras".

Have such names a connotation? The student may exercise his wits
on the question. It is a nice one, an excellent subject of debate.
Briefly, if we keep rigid hold of the meaning of connotation, this
Singular name has none. The combination is a singular name only
when it is the subject of a predication or an attribution, as in
the sentences, "The position of the leading subject of etc., is a
difficult one," or "The leading subject of etc., wears an eyeglass".
In such a sentence