referent
What's being indicated
A referent is the thing in the world that a word or expression points to.
When you say the cat on the mat, the referent is the actual cat—the real-world entity your words pick out.
In linguistics and philosophy, the term distinguishes between a word's meaning and what it refers to in a specific context.
Multiple expressions can share a referent: the morning star and the evening star both refer to Venus.
Tangible entity or aim
- entityIndependent existing thing
- thingUnspecified entity or matter
- subjectMatter under discussion
- itemSingle unit or article
individual · phenomenon · particular · instance · concrete · abstract · tangible · intangible
Expressed meaning symbolically
- meaningWhat something signifies
- conceptAbstract mental construct
- sensePerception or judgment
- designationFormal name or title
sign · anaphora · pronoun · demonstrative · definiteness · specificity · determinacy · ambiguity
Assigned meaning
- construalAct of interpreting meaning
- frameSupporting outer structure
- perspectiveAttitude or spatial rendering
- viewpointWay of seeing things
connotation · implication · inference · nuance · disambiguation · pragmatics · utterance · speaker
object
Tangible entity or aim
item · individual · phenomenon · particular · instance · concrete · abstract · tangible · intangible · extensional
signified
Expressed meaning symbolically
designation · sign · anaphora · pronoun · demonstrative · definiteness · specificity · determinacy · ambiguity · vagueness
interpretation
Assigned meaning
- construalAct of interpreting meaning
- frameSupporting outer structure
- perspectiveAttitude or spatial rendering
viewpoint · connotation · implication · inference · nuance · disambiguation · pragmatics · utterance · speaker · hearer
signifier
Meaning-bearing form
marker · indicator · pointer · name · label · term · expression · word · phrase · descriptor
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, word meaning
- semioticssign, signifier, signified, symbol, signification
- meaningmeaning, sense, significance, denotation, definition
- pronounsI, me, him, he, my
- symbolssymbols, runes, symbol, asterisks, national symbol
- signsstop sign, sign, signs, road sign, exit
- points of referenceStandards for comparison or orientation
- reference guideInformational consultation resource
- reference worksPublications for looking things up
- reference listsCataloged source citations
- frame of referenceContext for judgment
- reference pointStandard for comparison
referee, reference, referendum, referential, referents, self-referential, cross-reference, cross-referenced