Library / English Dictionary

REFERENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that refers; a term that refers to another term

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("referent" is a kind of...):

term (a word or expression used for some particular thing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The first term in a proposition; the term to which other terms relate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("referent" is a kind of...):

term (one of the substantive phrases in a logical proposition)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something referred to; the object of a reference

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("referent" is a kind of...):

import; meaning; significance; signification (the message that is intended or expressed or signified)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "referent"):

antecedent (the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun)

denotatum (an actual object referred to by a linguistic expression)

designatum (something (whether existing or not) that is referred to by a linguistic expression)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having reference

Example:

judgments referent to the indictment

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

denotative; denotive (having the power of explicitly denoting or designating or naming)

Derivation:

reference (the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to)

Credits