Definitions for reference
ˈrɛf ər əns, ˈrɛf rənsref·er·ence

Princeton's WordNet(3.54 / 29 votes)Rate this definition:

1. mention, reference(noun)

   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"

2. citation, cite, acknowledgment, credit, reference, mention, quotation(noun)

   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"

3. reference point, point of reference, reference(noun)

   an indicator that orients you generally

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

4. reference book, reference, reference work, book of facts(noun)

   a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts

   "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic"

5. character, reference, character reference(noun)

   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"

6. reference, denotation, extension(noun)

   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"

7. reference, consultation(noun)

   the act of referring or consulting

   "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer"

8. reference, source(noun)

   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"

9. address, computer address, reference(noun)

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

10. reference(verb)

    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"

11. reference, cite(verb)

    refer to

    "he referenced his colleagues' work"

Wiktionary(4.20 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. reference(Noun)

   A relationship or relation (to something).

2. reference(Noun)

   A measurement one can compare to.

3. reference(Noun)

   Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted

4. reference(Noun)

   A reference work.

5. reference(Noun)

   A relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object.

6. reference(Noun)

   A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.

7. reference(Noun)

   A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.

8. reference(Noun)

   An object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself.

9. reference(Verb)

   to refer to, to make reference to, to cite

   Reference the dictionary for word meanings.

10. reference(Verb)

    to mention

Webster Dictionary(3.60 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Reference(noun)

   the act of referring, or the state of being referred; as, reference to a chart for guidance

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

2. Reference(noun)

   that which refers to something; a specific direction of the attention; as, a reference in a text-book

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

3. Reference(noun)

   relation; regard; respect

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

4. Reference(noun)

   one who, or that which, is referred to

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

5. Reference(noun)

   one of whom inquires can be made as to the integrity, capacity, and the like, of another

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

6. Reference(noun)

   a work, or a passage in a work, to which one is referred

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

7. Reference(noun)

   the act of submitting a matter in dispute to the judgment of one or more persons for decision

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

8. Reference(noun)

   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

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

9. Reference(noun)

   appeal

   Etymology: [See Refer.]

Freebase(4.54 / 22 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Reference

   Reference is a relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to refer to the second object. The second object – the one to which the first object refers – is called the referent of the first object. The term reference is used in many spheres of human knowledge, adopting shades of meaning particular to the contexts in which it is used. References can take on many forms, including: a thought, a sensory perception that is audible, visual, olfactory, or tactile, emotional state, relationship with other, spacetime coordinate, symbolic or alpha-numeric, a physical object or an energy projection; but, other concrete and abstract contexts exist as methods of defining references within the scope of the various fields that require an origin, point of departure, or an original form. This includes methods that intentionally hide the reference from some observers, as in cryptography. The following sections give specific usages of reference in different subjects.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. reference

   A source for a specific form of data, facts, information, research or statistics.

   The reference for the media article is accurate, fair and just.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 20, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'reference' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1341

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'reference' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1692

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'reference' in Nouns Frequency: #457

How to pronounce reference?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say reference in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of reference in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of reference in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of reference in a Sentence

1. Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo:

   It is a disturbing consequence of modern biological technology that the fate of the nascent human life, which the Embryos in this case represent, must be determined in a court by reference to cold legal principles.

2. Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.:

   To take the measure of oneself by reference to one's colleagues leads to envy or complacency rather than constructive self-examination.

3. EMEASOBA GEORGE:

   It is normal to look up to someone right here or out there i.e. you are expected to admire and respect anyone who is worthy of admiration and respect. But, you shouldn't wish to be like anybody, no matter his or her socioeconomic status. Now listen up, nobody is better off than you. Yes! and in case you don't know, you are God's masterpiece and one of a kind as well Scripture reference (Ephesians 2:10). So, you've got to stop wishing to be like anybody right here or out there. Take Note: if every human is the same, this world would be so boring and uninteresting to live in. Lest you forget, monotony kills interest and much more than that, but variety is the spice of life. In other words, our uniqueness is what actually makes the world vivacious and interesting to live in, (IMHO) in my humble (honest) opinion. ~Emeasoba George

4. Jennifer Manton of Kramer Levin:

   Trump Organization is common practice to list prior representative experience in lawyer biographies on the website. The reference in Jay Neveloff's bio was removed on Friday to avoid confusion.

5. John McCain:

   My dad's actually doing really well right now, i believe in the power of prayer, and I think it's helping. She also clapped back at reports that White House aide Kelly Sadler had remarked, White House doesn't matter, White House aide Kelly Sadler's dying anyway, in reference to John McCain's opposition to President Donald Trump's nomination of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA.

Images & Illustrations of reference

Popularity rank by frequency of use