Adjacent Words

Reference definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REF'ERENCE, n.
1. A sending, dismission or direction to another for information.
2. Relation; respect; view towards.
The christian religion commands sobriety, temperance and moderation, in reference to our appetites and passions.
3. Allusion to. In his observations he had no reference to the case which has been stated.
4. In law, the process of assigning a cause depending in court, for a hearing and decision, to persons appointed by the court.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: 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" [syn: mention, reference]
2: 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" [syn: citation, cite, acknowledgment, credit, reference, mention, quotation]
3: an indicator that orients you generally; "it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved" [syn: reference point, point of reference, reference]
4: a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic" [syn: reference book, reference, reference work, book of facts]
5: 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" [syn: character, reference, character reference]
6: 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" [syn: reference, denotation, extension]
7: the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer" [syn: reference, consultation]
8: 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" [syn: reference, source]
9: (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored [syn: address, computer address, reference]
10: 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" v
1: refer to; "he referenced his colleagues' work" [syn: reference, cite]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 1589 1. the act of referring or consulting 2. a bearing on a matter ; relation <in reference to your recent letter> 3. something that refers: as a. allusion, mention b. something (as a sign or indication) that refers a reader or consulter to another source of information (as a book or passage) c. consultation of sources of information 4. one referred to or consulted: as a. a person to whom inquiries as to character or ability can be made b. a statement of the qualifications of a person seeking employment or appointment given by someone familiar with the person c. (1) a source of information (as a book or passage) to which a reader or consulter is referred (2) a work (as a dictionary or encyclopedia) containing useful facts or information d. denotation, meaning II. adjective Date: 1856 used or usable for reference; especially constituting a standard for measuring or constructing III. transitive verb (-enced; -encing) Date: 1891 1. a. to supply with references b. to cite in or as a reference 2. to put in a form (as a table) adapted to easy reference

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 the referring of a matter for decision or settlement or consideration to some authority. 2 the scope given to this authority. 3 (foll. by to) a a relation or respect or correspondence (success seems to have little reference to merit). b an allusion (made no reference to our problems). c a direction to a book etc. (or a passage in it) where information may be found. d a book or passage so cited. 4 a the act of looking up a passage etc. or looking in a book for information. b the act of referring to a person etc. for information. 5 a a written testimonial supporting an applicant for employment etc. b a person giving this. --v.tr. provide (a book etc.) with references to authorities. Phrases and idioms: reference book a book intended to be consulted for information on individual matters rather than read continuously. reference library a library in which the books are for consultation not loan. with (or in) reference to regarding; as regards; about. without reference to not taking account of. Derivatives: referential adj.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reference Ref"er*ence (r?f"?r-ens), n. [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) 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(references) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Reference to someone or something is the act of talking about them or mentioning them. A reference is a particular example of this. He made no reference to any agreement... N-VAR 2. Reference is the act of consulting someone or something in order to get information or advice. Please keep this sheet in a safe place for reference. 3. Reference books are ones that you look at when you need specific information or facts about a subject. ...a useful reference work for teachers. ADJ: ADJ n 4. A reference is a word, phrase, or idea which comes from something such as a book, poem, or play and which you use when making a point about something. ...a reference from the Quran. N-COUNT 5. A reference is something such as a number or a name that tells you where you can obtain the information you want. Make a note of the reference number shown on the form. N-COUNT 6. A reference is a letter that is written by someone who knows you and which describes your character and abilities. When you apply for a job, an employer might ask for references. The firm offered to give her a reference. N-COUNT 7. A reference is a person who gives you a reference, for example when you are applying for a job. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use referee) N-COUNT 8. If you keep information for future reference, you keep it because it might be useful in the future. Read these notes carefully and keep them for future reference. PHRASE: PHR after v 9. You use with reference to or in reference to in order to indicate what something relates to. I am writing with reference to your article on salaries for scientists... PREP-PHRASE 10. see also cross-reference, frame of reference, point of reference, terms of reference

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Respect, regard, relation, concern. 2. Allusion, intimation, hint.

Moby Thesaurus

acknowledgment, advocacy, advocating, advocation, affective meaning, allusion, angle, appeal to, applicability, application, appositeness, aspect, bearing, by-line, case, certificate of character, certification, character, character reference, citation, coloring, concern, concernment, confession, configuration, connection, connotation, consequence, credential, credentials, credit line, cross reference, cross-refer, cross-reference, demonstration, denotation, diacritical mark, direct attention to, direction, drift, effect, eidolon, end stop, endorsement, essence, example, exemplification, extension, facet, fashion, feature, figure, force, form, germaneness, gestalt, gist, grammatical meaning, guise, hint, idea, illustration, image, imago, impact, implication, import, impression, indication, innuendo, insinuation, instance, intension, interest, intimation, invoke, item, letter of introduction, lexical meaning, light, likeness, lineaments, literal meaning, look, make a cross-reference, make reference to, manner, materiality, meaning, mention, naming, notation, note, notification, overtone, particular, patronage, pertinence, phase, phasis, pith, point, practical consequence, punctuation, punctuation marks, purport, quotation, range of meaning, real meaning, recommend, recommendation, refer to, reference mark, referent, referral, regard, relatedness, relation, relevance, remark, respect, scope, seeming, semantic cluster, semantic field, semblance, sense, shape, side, signature, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, simulacrum, slant, span of meaning, specification, spirit, stop, structural meaning, style, substance, sum, sum and substance, symbolic meaning, tenor, testimonial, tittle, total effect, totality of associations, trademark, transferred meaning, tribute, twist, unadorned meaning, undertone, value, view, viewpoint, voucher, wise