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Meaning vs Referent - What's the difference?

meaning | referent |

In semantics terms the difference between meaning and referent

is that meaning is the objects or concept that a word or phrase denotes, or that which a sentence says while referent is the specific entity in the world that a word or phrase identifies or denotes.

As nouns the difference between meaning and referent

is that meaning is the symbolic value of something while referent is the specific entity in the world that a word or phrase identifies or denotes.

As a verb meaning

is present participle of lang=en.

As an adjective meaning

is having a (specified) intention.

meaning

Etymology 1

From (etyl) mening, menyng, equivalent to .

Noun

(en noun)
  • The symbolic value of something.
  • *
  • *:Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ ("I never) understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
  • The significance of a thing.
  • :
  • (lb) The objects or concept that a word or phrase denotes, or that which a sentence says.
  • (lb) Intention.
  • *(rfdate) (Sir Walter Raleigh):
  • *:It was their meaning to take what they needed by stronghand.
  • Synonyms
    * sense, definition
    Hyponyms
    * proposition
    Derived terms
    * antimeaning * meaning of life * meaningful * meaningless * meaninglessly * meaninglessness

    Etymology 2

    From .

    Verb

    (head)
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having a (specified) intention.
  • Expressing some intention or significance; meaningful.
  • *1839 , (Edgar Allan Poe), ‘William Wilson’:
  • *:I might, to-day, have been a better, and thus a happier man, had I less frequently rejected the counsels embodied in those meaning whispers which I then but too cordially hated and too bitterly despised.
  • Anagrams

    *

    referent

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (semantics) The specific entity in the world that a word or phrase identifies or denotes.
  • That which is referenced.
  • Derived terms

    * absent referent

    Anagrams

    * * ----