Definitions from Wordnet 2.0

• the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer"
• the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the extension of `satellite of Mars'' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos"
• the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes"
• a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic"
• a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person''s qualifications and dependability; "requests for character references are all to often answered evasively"
• a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage; "the student''s essay failed to list several important citations"; "the acknowledgments are usually printed at the front of a book"; "the article includes mention of similar clinical
• a remark that calls attention to something or someone; "she made frequent mention of her promotion"; "there was no mention of it"; "the speaker made several references to his wife"
• an indicator that orients you generally; "it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved"
• a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation"
• refer to; "he referenced his colleagues'' work"

Definitions from Wiktionary

• a remark that calls attention to something or someone; "she made frequent mention of her promotion"; "there was no mention of it"; "the speaker made several references to his wife" ,
• a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage; "the student's essay failed to list several important citations"; "the acknowledgments are usually printed at the front of a book"; "the article includes mention of similar clinical cases" ,
• an indicator that orients you generally; "it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved" ,
• a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic" ,
• a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability; "requests for character references are all to often answered evasively" ,
• the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos" ,
• the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer" ,
• a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation" ,
• the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes"

• Reference: Reference is derived from Middle English referren, from Middle French rèférer, from Latin referre, "to carry back", formed from the ...
• Reference work: A reference work is a compendium of information, usually of a specific type, compiled in a book for ease of reference . That is, the ...
• Reference (computer science): In computer science , a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular data item, such as a variable or a ...

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