referend
(ˈrɛfərɛnd, rɛfəˈrɛnd)
[ad. L. referend-um, gerund or neut. gerundive of referre to refer.]
That by which or, more commonly, to which reference is made, spec. that which is signified by a particular sense of a word.
| 1925 Monist XXXV. 427 By the content of a judgment is meant the referend plus that which is predicated of the referend, and by the referend is meant that to which the judgment refers. 1930 L. S. Stebbing Mod. Introd. Logic ii. 13 We shall find it convenient to use the word ‘referend’ to stand for that which is signified. Ibid., It is perhaps unfortunate to have to introduce new terminology, but the word ‘object’ is not suitable for the purpose for which I use the technical term ‘referend’. The referend is that which is being referred to. 1939 Trans. Philol. Soc. 74 How can we disentangle ourselves from the close meshwork of our native language and find a tertium quid or set of neutral referends to serve as a measure for both languages compared? 1940 Kenyon Rev. 269 The monosign is referential in the sense that what it means.., its referend, is something distinct from itself. 1941 Mind L. 151 He thinks he is holding fast to some identical referend throughout, whereas in truth he has only an identical symbol which is changing its referend. 1956 J. Whatmough Language 262 Referend. That which is symbolized or referred to by a verbal symbol, e.g. the referend of rain is ‘the moisture of the atmosphere condensed and falling in visible drops’. 1957 S. Potter Mod. Linguistics vii. 141 The bird, the living creature that we see with our eyes, we may call the referend, and the picture of it that we have in our minds as we speak..may be called the image. 1977 Word 1972 XXVIII. 162 The auxiliary is invariably present when the referend is not the subject of the clause. |