reference
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹɛf.(ə)ɹəns/
ipa: /ˈɹɛfəɹɛns/
rhymes: -ɛfəɹəns
Forms: form: references
form: referencing
form: referenced
form: referenced
Etymology: From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence.
Senses: examples: text: You must thoroughly reference your paper before submitting it.
glosses: To provide a list of references for (a text).
examples: text: Reference the dictionary for word meanings.
text: The penchant for synthesizing the work of others that pervades British scholarship has been described by one of my cynical American colleagues as “a giant bibliography that is always eating its own tail.” By this he means that cliques of like-minded writers tend to reference each other’s work incessantly.
ref: 1990, Thomas L. Bell, “Political Economy's Response to Positivism”, in Geographical Review, volume 80, number 3, American Geographical Society, →JSTOR, page 314:
text: Written information is a relatively new phenomenon. Depositing it and being able to reference it centuries later is not common human experience.
ref: 1994 September 24, Barry Chamish, quoting Louis Rossetto, “The End of the Book”, in The Atlantic:
text: On the Florence Harding page, for instance, a researcher will be able to reference a book by Waarren Harding’s alleged mistress, Nan Britton, who claimed that she bore his daughter.
ref: 1998 January 26, Donnie Radcliffe, “New Library Will Chronicle First Ladies”, in The Washington Post, page C1+:
qualifier: occasionally proscribed
glosses: To cite, to use as a reference.
examples: text: In his speech, the candidate obliquely referenced the past failures of his opponent.
text: Humanities institutions specifically reference the work setting for illustrative applications of the unique and significant contributions of the Humanities.
ref: 1988, Integrating the Humanities into Associate Degree Occupational Programs, American Association of Community Colleges, →ISBN, page 25:
text: With the economy characteristic of all African sculpture, these portraits reference individual and social identities simultaneously, so that the image of a king may represent a particular king and all kings; a commemorative mask for a woman, a particular woman and all titled women.
ref: 1990, Jean Borgatti, “Portraiture in Africa”, in African Arts, volume 23, number 3, page 37:
text: And I would simply reference those of you who are out there working.
ref: 1991 January 19, Bobby Ray Inman, “A Nominee’s Withdrawal: Transcript of the Statement by Inman on His Decision to Withdraw”, in The New York Times, page A14:
text: While Trump has not explicitly mentioned habeas corpus in public, it’s what he was referencing last month when he commented on steps he could take to combat nationwide injunctions against his actions on deportations, according to one of the people familiar with the talks.
ref: 2025 May 9, Kaitlan Collins, Samantha Waldenberg and Tierney Sneed, “Trump involved in discussions over suspending habeas corpus, sources say”, in CNN:
glosses: To mention, to refer to.
examples: text: The given pointer will reference the actual generated data.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: To contain the value that is a memory address of some value stored in memory.
Derived terms: cross-reference
Related terms: referee
referent
referential
relate
relation