1. a person or thing that designates or marks something; a label, name, or symbol used to identify or distinguish something
Usage: often used in technical, administrative, or formal contexts
2. in linguistics and logic, a word or expression that refers to or picks out a particular object or individual
Usage: technical; used in philosophy and formal semantics

Examples

• The flight number serves as a designator for each aircraft route.
• In the database, each user has a unique designator code.
• The product designator helps customers identify the correct item.
• Military ranks use insignia as visual designators.
• The designator 'Dr.' indicates a person holds a doctoral degree.
• In formal logic, a proper name functions as a designator of a specific individual.