denotation

English

Etymology

From Late Latin dēnotātiō, from Latin dēnotāre (“to denote, mark out”) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns of action), from dē- (“completely”) + notāre (“to mark”); equivalent to denote +‎ -ation.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌdiː.noʊˈteɪ.ʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧no‧ta‧tion
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

denotation (countable and uncountable, plural denotations)

1. The act of denoting, or something (such as a symbol) that denotes
2. (logic, linguistics, semiotics) The primary, surface, literal, or explicit meaning of a signifier such as a word, phrase, or symbol; that which a word denotes, as contrasted with its connotation; the aggregate or set of objects of which a word may be predicated.

   The denotations of the two expressions "the morning star" and "the evening star" are the same (i.e. both expressions denote the planet Venus), but their connotations are different.

   • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎^[1], page 6:

     Regarding denotation, the terms were generally used to refer to a wide range of language contact varieties and features.

3. (philosophy, logic) The intension and extension of a word
4. (semantics) Something signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol
5. (computer science) Any mathematical object which describes the meanings of expressions from the languages, formalized in the theory of denotational semantics
6. (media studies) A first level of analysis: what the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor.

Derived terms

• denotative

Related terms

• connotation

Translations

act of denoting

• Bulgarian: означаване n (označavane)
• Catalan: denotació f
• Dutch: denotatie (nl), beschrijving (nl)
• Finnish: merkitseminen (fi) (act); merkki (fi) (something that denotes)
• Hungarian: megjelölés (hu)
• Ingrian: merkitsömiin
• Portuguese: denotação (pt) f
• Spanish: denotación (es) f

primary or explicit meaning

• Bulgarian: главно значение n (glavno značenie)
• Catalan: denotació f
• Dutch: denotatie (nl), betekenis (nl)
• Finnish: perusmerkitys, denotaatio (fi)
• Hungarian: jelentés (hu)
• Indonesian: denotasi (id)
• Portuguese: denotação (pt) f
• Spanish: denotación (es) f

something signified or referred to

• Bulgarian: обозначение (bg) n (oboznačenie)
• Dutch: aanduiding (nl), denotatie (nl), betekenis (nl)
• Finnish: merkitys (fi)
• Hungarian: jel (hu)
• Portuguese: denotação (pt) f
• Spanish: denotación (es) f

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “denotation”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• detonation, taeniodont

Danish

Noun

denotation c (singular definite denotationen, plural indefinite denotationer)

1. denotation (clarification of this definition is needed)

Declension

Declension of denotation

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	denotation	denotationen	denotationer	denotationerne
genitive	denotations	denotationens	denotationers	denotationernes

Further reading

• “denotation” in Den Danske Ordbog