representative (rep¦re¦sen|ta¦tive)

adjective

• 1typical of a class, group, or body of opinion: Churchill was not properly representative of influential opinion in Britain
• containing typical examples of many or all types: a representative sample of young people in Scotland

• 2(of a legislative assembly or deliberative body) consisting of people chosen to act and speak on behalf of a wider group: the new government lacked a representative assembly there was no representative body to fight for cricketers until 1968
• (of a government or political system) based on elected or chosen representatives: free elections and representative democracy

• 3serving as a portrayal or symbol of something: the show would be more representative of how women really are
• (of art) representational: the bust involves a high degree of representative abstraction

• 4 Philosophy relating to mental representation.

noun

• 1a person chosen or appointed to act or speak for another or others, in particular:
• an agent of a firm who travels to potential clients to sell its products: a sales representative for Norwich Union
• an employee of a travel company who lives in a resort and looks after the needs of its holidaymakers: make your own way to the Valley Inn, where you will be contacted by our tour representative
• a person chosen or elected to speak and act on behalf of others in a legislative assembly or deliberative body: the District of Columbia’s representative in Congress the Cambodian representative to the UN
• a delegate who attends a conference, negotiations, etc., so as to represent the interests of another person or group: a PLO representative attending a meeting in Damascus
• a person who takes the place of another on an official occasion: the Duke of Gloucester would attend the coronation as the representative of his father, King George V

• 2an example of a class or group: fossil representatives of lampreys and hagfishes