Appendix:Glossary of semantics
This is a glossary of semantics.
| Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
A
[edit]- absent referent
- The condition of a sign which has an empty, absent, non-existent, paradoxical, hypothetical, supernatural, or undefined referent, such as nothing, null, vacuum, or void.
C
[edit]- conceptual definition
- A definition in terms of concepts, such as the one found in a dictionary, instead of in terms of the results of measuring procedures.
- connotation
- A meaning of a word or phrase that is suggested or implied, as opposed to a denotation, or literal meaning. A characteristic of words or phrases, or of the contexts that words and phrases are used in.
D
[edit]- definiendum
- The term—word or phrase—defined in a definition.
- definiens
- That which defines the definiendum in a definition.
- definition
- A statement of the meaning of a word or word group or a sign or symbol.
- denotation
- The primary, literal or explicit meaning of a word, phrase or symbol.
- dictionary definition
- A descriptive definition specifying one of the commonly used meanings of the defined term.
- differentia
- The distinguishing feature which marks something off from other members of the same family.
E
[edit]- enumerative definition
- A definition that exhaustively lists all the objects that fall under the defined term.
- extension
- Capacity of a concept or general term to include a greater or smaller number of objects; -- correlative of intension.
- extensional definition
- A definition of a term that specifies its extension, that is, every object that falls under the definition.
G
[edit]- genus
- Within a definition, a broader category of the defined concept.
I
[edit]- intension
- Any property or quality connoted by a word, phrase or other symbol, contrasted to actual instances in the real world to which the term applies.
- intensional definition
- A definition that gives the meaning of a term by specifying all the properties of the things to which the term applies.
M
[edit]- meaning
- The definition or connotation of a word.
O
[edit]- operational definition
- A showing of something — such as a variable, term, or object — in terms of the specific process or set of validation tests used to determine its presence and quantity.
- ostensive definition
- A process of binding the meaning to the defined term by pointing out examples and counterexamples.
P
[edit]- prototype
- An instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes, such as robin being a prototype of bird, unlike penguin.
R
[edit]- recursive definition
- A definition of a term within which the term itself appears, and that is well-founded, avoiding an infinite regress.
- referent
- The specific entity in the world that a word or phrase identifies or denotes.
S
[edit]- semantics
- A branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words.
- sense
- A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries for a word in a dictionary.
- stipulative definition
- A definition in which a new or currently-existing term is given a new meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context.