reference

Plural: references

Noun

• a remark that calls attention to something or someone
  • "the speaker made several references to his wife"
• a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage
• an indicator that orients you generally
  • "it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved"
• a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts
  • "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic"
• 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"
• the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to
• the act of referring or consulting
  • "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer"
• a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to
  • "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"
• (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored
• 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"
• A relationship or relation (to something).
• A measurement one can compare (some other measurement) to.
• Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted.
• A person who provides this information; a referee.
• A reference work.
• The act of referring: a submitting for information or decision.
• A relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object.
• A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.
• A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.
• An object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself.
• A special sequence used to represent complex characters in markup languages, such as ™ for the ™ symbol.
• Appeal.

Verb

• refer to
  • "he referenced his colleagues' work"
• To provide a list of references for (a text).
• To cite, to use as a reference.
• To mention, to refer to.
• To contain the value that is a memory address of some value stored in memory.

Examples

• In his speech, the candidate obliquely referenced the past failures of his opponent.
• Reference Dictionary of Linguistics
• reference grammar
• Reference the dictionary for word meanings.
• The given pointer will reference the actual generated data.
• You must thoroughly reference your paper before submitting it.

Synonyms

acknowledgment, address, book of facts, character, character reference, citation, cite, computer address, consultation, credit, denotation, extension, mention, point of reference, quotation, reference book, reference point, reference work, source

Related Words

handle, referee, referent, referential, relate, relation, sense