REFERENCE

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reference mean? 

• REFERENCE (noun)
  The noun REFERENCE has 10 senses:

1. a remark that calls attention to something or someone

2. a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage

3. an indicator that orients you generally

4. a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts

5. a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability

6. the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to

7. the act of referring or consulting

8. a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to

9. (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored

10. the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to

  Familiarity information: REFERENCE used as a noun is familiar.

• REFERENCE (verb)
  The verb REFERENCE has 1 sense:

1. refer to

  Familiarity information: REFERENCE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REFERENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A remark that calls attention to something or someone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

mention; reference

Context example:

the speaker made several references to his wife

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

comment; input; remark (a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reference"):

allusion (passing reference or indirect mention)

retrospection (reference to things past)

name-dropping (the practice of casually mentioning important people in order to impress your listener)

Derivation:

refer (make reference to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

acknowledgment; citation; cite; credit; mention; quotation; reference

Context example:

the article includes mention of similar clinical cases

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

annotation; notation; note (a comment or instruction (usually added))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reference"):

photo credit (a note acknowledging the source of a published photograph)

cross-index; cross-reference (a reference at one place in a work to information at another place in the same work)

Derivation:

reference (refer to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An indicator that orients you generally

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

point of reference; reference; reference point

Context example:

it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

indicator (a signal for attracting attention)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reference"):

bench mark; benchmark (a surveyor's mark on a permanent object of predetermined position and elevation used as a reference point)

landmark (a mark showing the boundary of a piece of land)

lubber's line; lubber's mark; lubber's point; lubber line (a fixed line on a ship's compass indicating its heading)

mark; target (a reference point to shoot at)

white line (a white stripe in the middle of a road to mark traffic lanes)

buoy (bright-colored; a float attached by rope to the seabed to mark channels in a harbor or underwater hazards)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A book to which you can refer for authoritative facts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

book of facts; reference; reference book; reference work

Context example:

he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

book (a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reference"):

cookbook; cookery book (a book of recipes and cooking directions)

instruction book (a book of directions for using or operating some piece of equipment)

source book (a collection of historically important documents published together as a book)

wordbook (a reference book containing words (usually with their meanings))

enchiridion; handbook; vade mecum (a concise reference book providing specific information about a subject or location)

directory (an alphabetical list of names and addresses)

annual; yearbook; yearly (a reference book that is published regularly once every year)

atlas; book of maps; map collection (a collection of maps in book form)

cyclopaedia; cyclopedia; encyclopaedia; encyclopedia (a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or with some particular specialty)

Derivation:

refer (seek information from)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

character; character reference; reference

Context example:

requests for character references are all too often answered evasively

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

good word; recommendation; testimonial (something that recommends (or expresses commendation of) a person or thing as worthy or desirable)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

denotation; extension; reference

Context example:

the extension of 'satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

meaning; substance (the idea that is intended)

Derivation:

refer (have as a meaning)

refer (be relevant to)

referent (having reference)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The act of referring or consulting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

consultation; reference

Context example:

reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))

Derivation:

refer (send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

reference; source

Context example:

he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

publication (a copy of a printed work offered for distribution)

Derivation:

refer (seek information from)

reference (refer to)

Sense 9

Meaning:

(computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

address; computer address; reference

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

code; computer code ((computer science) the symbolic arrangement of data or instructions in a computer program or the set of such instructions)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reference"):

uniform resource locator; universal resource locator; URL (the address of a web page on the world wide web)

argument; parameter ((computer science) a reference or value that is passed to a function, procedure, subroutine, command, or program)

Sense 10

Meaning:

The relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes

Hypernyms ("reference" is a kind of...):

meaning; substance (the idea that is intended)

Derivation:

refer (think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or with a general group or in relation to another)

refer (have as a meaning)

referential (referring or pointing to something)

• REFERENCE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they reference    ... he / she / it references   
Past simple: referenced   
Past participle: referenced   
-ing form: referencing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Refer to

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

cite; reference

Context example:

he referenced his colleagues' work

Hypernyms (to "reference" is one way to...):

compose; indite; pen; write (produce a literary work)

Domain category:

authorship; composition; penning; writing (the act of creating written works)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Did he reference his major works over a short period of time?

Derivation:

reference (a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage)

reference (a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to)

 Context examples 

A character or string that represents a medical history event reference.

(Medical History Reference Identifier, NCI Thesaurus)

I found, when I did open it, that it was a very kind note, containing no reference to my condition at the theatre.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A reference source that provides meanings of words related to medical history.

(Medical History Dictionary, NCI Thesaurus)

The date and time of a microbiology specimen data reference point.

(Microbiology Specimen Date Time of Reference Timepoint, NCI Thesaurus)

A character or string used to name, or characterize a microbiology susceptibility reference.

(Microbiology Susceptibility Reference Identifier, NCI Thesaurus)

The interval between two reference points in time with regards to microbiology susceptibility data.

(Microbiology Susceptibility Elapsed Time, NCI Thesaurus)

A unit used for measuring substance concentration or/and activity as defined in the literature reference standard for the particular assay method.

(Assay Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

But a genome is usually of a single variety, which then acts as a reference genome for the rest of the species.

(Tomato Pan-Genome Makes Bringing Flavor Back Easier, Agricultural Research Service)

An indication or description that the start of the clinical event is before, during or after a reference time interval.

(Clinical Events Start Relative to Reference Period, NCI Thesaurus)

A character or string used to name, or characterize a clinical events reference.

(Clinical Events Reference Identifier, NCI Thesaurus)