What does "nominate" exactly mean?

[Kengo]

Hello everyone,

I'm an English learner from Japan.
I would like to learn how to use the word "nominate" properly.

When someone is nominated for a position, does it mean he/she is already chosen to take that poision or they are still among the candidates?

I find different translations in my mother language for this sentence pattern and am a little bit confused...

Thanks in advance.

[SirGod]

*Not a teacher

If someone is nominated for a position, he is not already chosen to take that position, he is still a candidate.

[JMurray]

What SirG says is most often the case, but sometimes "nominate" can mean to appoint, especially if the nominating is done by a person in power.
"The Chief Executive has nominated his second-in-charge to address the annual general meeting".
"The North Korean leader has nominated his son as his successor".

not a teacher

[SoothingDave]

I would use "appointed" for those types, where an executive leader names a person for a position.

[Ouisch]

Agreeing with Dave, even the results of the "election" are a given (in the case of, say, if Mao Zedong had announced that he was nominating his eldest son Skippy for the position of Chairman) the use of the word "nominate" indicates that there will be more than one candidate and that there will be a vote to decide a winner.

[konungursvia]

Hello everyone,

I'm an English learner from Japan.
I would like to learn how to use the word "nominate" properly.

When someone is nominated for a position, does it mean he/she is already chosen to take that poision or they are still among the candidates?

I find different translations in my mother language for this sentence pattern and am a little bit confused...

Thanks in advance.

Nominate comes from the French, nommer, to name. This does not mean to give a new name, as to a child, but to provide the name of a person you think would be suited to a job.

[JMurray]

I would use "appointed" for those types, where an executive leader names a person for a position.
Agreeing with Dave


SoothingDave & Ouisch.
To some extent I agree and might use 'appoint' in those cases myself. I am saying that 'nominate' is sometimes used when the meaning is 'appoint'. Not all dictionaries give this meaning but many do.

nominate
– Shorter Oxford: 4. To appoint (a person) by name to some office or duty.
– CollinsLanguage.com: 2. to appoint (someone) to an office or position,
– BusinessDictionary.com: authorize or designate for an office, position, or role. (it defines 'designate' as 'appointed to a job but not yet working').
– FreeDictionary.com: 2. To designate or appoint to an office, responsibility, or honor.
– Encarta World English Dictionary: 2. to appoint somebody to a position, or make somebody responsible for a duty.

[Kengo]

Thank you all for your informative answers.

I also thought myself that 'appoint' would be useful in avoiding the confusion.
It's very good to hear all your views - I'm glad my understanding was on the same wavelength.

In passing, like the examples JMurray has cited, my Cambridge Learner's Dictionary shows the meaning in question as "To choose someone for a job or to do something".

Thanks again