REFERENCE

reference, consultation

(noun) the act of referring or consulting; “reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer”

reference, denotation, extension

(noun) the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; “the extension of ‘satellite of Mars’ is the set containing only Demos and Phobos”

reference

(noun) the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; “he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes”

address, computer address, reference

(noun) (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored

character, reference, character reference

(noun) a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person’s qualifications and dependability; “requests for character references are all too often answered evasively”

citation, cite, acknowledgment, credit, reference, mention, quotation

(noun) a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage; “the student’s essay failed to list several important citations”; “the acknowledgments are usually printed at the front of a book”; “the article includes mention of similar clinical cases”

mention, reference

(noun) a remark that calls attention to something or someone; “she made frequent mention of her promotion”; “there was no mention of it”; “the speaker made several references to his wife”

reference, source

(noun) a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; “he carried an armful of references back to his desk”; “he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation”

reference, cite

(verb) refer to; “he referenced his colleagues’ work”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

reference (countable and uncountable, plural references)

(literary or archaic) A relationship or relation (to something).

A measurement one can compare to.

Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted.

A person who provides this information; a referee.

A reference work.

(attributive) That which serves as a reference work.

The act of referring: a submitting for information or decision.

(semantics) A relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object.

(academic writing) A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.

(academic writing) A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.

(computing) An object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself.

(programming, character entity) A special sequence used to represent complex characters in markup languages, such as ™ for the ™ symbol.

(obsolete) Appeal.

Hyponyms

• circular reference

• forward reference

• phantom reference

• soft reference

• strong reference

• weak reference

Verb

reference (third-person singular simple present references, present participle referencing, simple past and past participle referenced)

To provide a list of references for (a text).

To refer to, to use as a reference.

To mention, to cite.

(programming) To contain the value that is a memory address of some value stored in memory.

Usage notes

Some authorities object to the use of reference as a verb with a meaning other than “provide a list of references for,” preferring refer to or cite in these cases. Others allow the meaning “refer to” but reject “mention.” Nevertheless, the proscribed usages are common in both writing and speech.

Source: Wiktionary

Ref"er*ence (rf"r-ens), n. Etym: [See Refer.]

1. The act of referring, or the state of being referred; as, reference to a chart for quidance.

2. That which refers to something; a specific direction of the attention; as, a reference in a text-book.

3. Relation; regard; respect. Something that hath a reference to my state. Shak.

4. One who, or that which, is referred to. Specifically; (a) One of whom inquires can be made as to the integrity, capacity, and the like, of another. (b) A work, or a passage in a work, to which one is referred.

5. (Law) (a) The act of submitting a matter in dispute to the judgment of one or more persons for decision. (b) (Equity)

Definition: The process of sending any matter, for inquiry in a cause, to a master or other officer, in order that he may ascertain facts and report to the court.

6. Appeal. [R.] "Make your full reference." Shak. Reference Bible, a Bible in which brief explanations, and references to parallel passages, are printed in the margin of the text.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

REFERENCE

Etymology

Noun

Hyponyms

Verb

Usage notes

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