Definitions of representative:

• noun:   a person who represents others
• noun:   a member of the United States House of Representatives
• noun:   an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose
• noun:   an item of information that is representative of a type
• adjective:   standing for something else

  Example: "The bald eagle is representative of the United States"

• adjective:   serving to represent or typify

  Example: "Representative moviegoers"

• adjective:   being or characteristic of government by representation in which citizens exercise power through elected officers and representatives

  Example: "Representative government as defined by Abraham Lincoln is government of the people, by the people, for the people"