connotation
(kɒnəʊˈteɪʃən)
[ad. med.L. connotātiōn-em, n. of action f. connotāre: so in Fr.]
1. The signifying in addition; inclusion of something in the meaning of a word besides what it primarily denotes; implication.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 417/1 This woorde congregacyon didde neuer signifie the noumber of christen people, as christen people, with a connotacyon or consideracion of theyr fayth or chrystendome. a 1617 Bayne On Eph. (1643) 314 When the words of knowledge do together by connotation imply affection, much more do the words of beleefe. 1676 Norris Coll. Misc. (1699) 298 That which formal sin adds over and above to material..is the Connotation of that special Dependence of it upon the Will. 1685 H. More Paralip. Prophet. 404 The Lamb, which signifies the Person of Christ, though it may be with a Connotation of his Church, his Body. 1829 Jas. Mill Hum. Mind (1878) I. ix. 313 If we could suppose qualis to have been used without any connotation of talis. |
b. That which is implied in a word in addition to its essential or primary meaning.
| 1867 Lewes Hist. Philos. II. 6 The very word heresy, which simply means private judgment, has in all times borne an opprobrious connotation. 1877 Athenæum 21 July, That adjective [un-english] possesses a somewhat uncomplimentary connotation. |
2. Logic. † a. With the earlier logicians: The subject ‘connoted’ by a term which signifies (or ‘notes’) an attribute or group of attributes. Obs. b. With J. S. Mill and later logicians: The attribute or aggregate of attributes connoted by a term. (See connote v. 4.) Hence, c. In non-technical use: The sum of what a word implies or means; meaning.
| 1662 Stillingfl. Power Excommun. 14 But this Christian society doth not respect men under the connotation of men but as Christians. 1829 Jas. Mill Hum. Mind (1869) I. ix. 299, I shall find much convenience in using the term notation to point out the sensation or sensations which are peculiarly marked by such words, the term connotation to point out the clusters which they mark along with this their principal meaning. 1846 J. S. Mill Logic i. v. §2 Hobbes..bestowed little or no attention upon the connotation of words; and sought for their meaning exclusively in what they denote. 1865 Sat. Rev. 2 Sept. 295 Phrases to which no definite meaning, or, more technically speaking, no fixed connotation, is attached. 1875 Poste Gaius iv. (ed. 2) 644 An epithet sometimes detracts from, instead of adding to, the connotation of a word. 1876 Jevons Elem. Logic v. (1880) 39 The intension of a term is synonymous with its comprehension, or connotation, or depth. 1887 Fowler Deductive Logic v. 37 A definition is an exposition of the connotation of a term. Ibid. ii. 19. |
† 3. (?) A mutual relation. Obs. Cf. connotate 2.
| 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. vi. 123 By reason of the coexistence of one thing with another there ariseth a various relation or connotation between them. |
† 4. Signification in combination, consignification. Cf. connote 3. Obs.
| 1786 H. Tooke Purley (1798) I. 321 Concerning the word with, he would tell me..that it had no meaning of its own, but only a connotation or consignification. |