Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Designation

Designation , noun

[Latin designatio: compare French désignation.]

1.
The act of designating; a pointing out or showing; indication.
2.
Selection and appointment for a purpose; allotment; direction.
3.
That which designates; a distinguishing mark or name; distinctive title; appellation.
The usual designation of the days of the week. — Whewell
4.
Use or application; import; intention; signification, as of a word or phrase.
Finite and infinite seem... to be attributed primarily, in their first designation, only to those things which have parts. — Locke