definiendum

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēfīniendum, gerund of dēfīniō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˌfɪniˈɛndəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

Examples
A lake is a large, landlocked, naturally occurring stretch of water.

definiendum (plural definienda)

1. (semantics) The term (word or phrase) defined in a definition (whether inside a sentence, as a dictionary entry, or otherwise).

   Hyponyms: headword, lemma

   • 1991, William Thomas Parry, Edward A. Hacker, Aristotelian Logic, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 84:

     However, most advocates of the importance of real definition have limited the definiendum to certain kinds of things: usually an abstract entity or a concept.

   • 2013, Edward Craig, editor, Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge, →ISBN, page 198:

     The objects themselves are the definienda of the definition. The first set of properties through which the definienda are collected together to form a group is called ‘the limiting properties of being the definienda of the definition’.

Related terms

• definition
• definiens

Further reading

• “definiendum”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Latin

Etymology

From dēfīniō (“I set limits”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /deː.fiː.niˈen.dum/, [d̪eːfiːniˈɛn̪d̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /de.fi.niˈen.dum/, [d̪efiniˈɛn̪d̪um]

Verb

dēfīniendum (accusative, gerundive dēfīniendus)

1. limiting
2. defining
3. restricting

Declension

Second declension, defective.

	singular
nominative	—
genitive	dēfīniendī
dative	dēfīniendō
accusative	dēfīniendum
ablative	dēfīniendō
vocative	—

There is no nominative form. The present active infinitive of the parent verb is used in situations that require a nominative form. The accusative may also be substituted by the infinitive in this way.

Participle

dēfīniendum

1. inflection of dēfīniendus:
   1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
   2. accusative masculine singular