referent

Plural: referents

Noun

• The thing that a word, phrase, or symbol refers to.
• something referred to; the object of a reference
• the first term in a proposition; the term to which other terms relate
• something that refers; a term that refers to another term
• The specific entity in the world that a word or phrase identifies or denotes: what it refers to.
• That which is referenced.

Adjective Satellite

• having reference
  • "judgments referent to the indictment"

Examples

• For "CAT," the fluffy creature is the referent, not just the letters.

Related Words

antecedent, refer, reference, referential, referral, referrer