Appendix:Glossary of semantics

This is a glossary of semantics.

A

 * 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

 * 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

 * 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

 * 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

 * genus : Within a definition, a broader category of the defined concept.

I

 * 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

 * meaning : The definition or connotation of a word.

O

 * 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

 * 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

 * 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

 * 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.