referent
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
ref·er·ent
(rĕf′ər-ənt, rĭ-fûr′ənt)n.
A person or thing to which a linguistic expression refers.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
referent
(ˈrɛfərənt)n
the object or idea to which a word or phrase refers. Compare sense12
[C19: from Latin referens, from referre to refer]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ref•er•ent
(ˈrɛf ər ənt, ˈrɛf rənt)n.
the object or event to which a term or symbol refers.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
Noun | 1. | referent - something referred to; the object of a reference meaning, signification, import, significance - the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous" 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 |
2. | referent - the first term in a proposition; the term to which other terms relate term - one of the substantive phrases in a logical proposition; "the major term of a syllogism must occur twice" | |
3. | referent - something that refers; a term that refers to another term term - a word or expression used for some particular thing; "he learned many medical terms" | |
Adj. | 1. | referent - having reference; "judgments referent to the indictment" denotative, denotive - having the power of explicitly denoting or designating or naming |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations