Definition and meaning are two words we use to explain the sense of a word or concept. In other words, they describe what that particular concept means. Definition is the statement of the exact meaning of a word, especially as given in a dictionary. Meaning explains a word or concept in a very general sense. This is the main difference between definition and meaning. Both meaning and definition help us to understand what is inferred by a word.
In this article, we are going to look at,
1. What is a Definition? – Definition, Scope, Categories, and Examples
2. What is a Meaning? – Definition, Explanation, Categories, and Examples
3. Key Differences Between Definition and Meaning
What is a Definition
The Oxford dictionary defines definition as “an exact statement or description of the nature, scope, or meaning of something” and the Merriam-Webster defines it as “a statement expressing the essential nature of something”. A definition is usually the meaning given in a dictionary. For example, let’s look at the definition of the word dog in the dictionary.
Dog: A domesticated carnivorous mammal that typically has a long snout, an acute sense of smell, non-retractile claws, and a barking, howling, or whining voice. (Oxford dictionary)
This definition includes the physical features as well as behavioral patterns of dogs to define the term dog. The characteristics listed here distinguish dogs from other mammals. Thus, it enables the read to understand what is implied by the word.
Definitions can be broadly categorized into two groups known as intentional definitions and extensional definitions. Intentional definitions try to give the essence of the word by specifying the necessary and sufficient conditions for an item to belong to a member of a specific set. For example,
Bachelor: a man who is not and has never been married
Extensional definitions, on the other hand, define an item by listing every item that belongs to that particular set. For example,
The seven deadly sins: the sins of pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth
What is Meaning
Meaning explains what a particular word or concept implies. The Oxford Dictionary defines meaning as “what is meant by a word, text, concept, or action” and Merriam-Webster defines it as “the idea that is represented by a word, phrase, etc.” The meaning can refer to both implied and explicit significance of a word or concept.
A word may have only one definition; definitions provided by different sources may contain the same message, albeit with different wordings. However, a word might have different meanings to different individuals. There are different levels of meaning. The same word can even have contrary meanings to two readers. This happens because meaning is connected with our emotions and experience. Meaning can be basically divided into two categories known as connotation and denotation. Denotation is the surface meaning or literal meaning of a word. Connotation is the personal, emotional and cultural associations of a word.
Difference Between Definition and Meaning
Definition
Definition: Definition is a statement expressing the essential nature of something.
Meaning: Meaning is the idea that is represented by a word, phrase, etc.
Scope
Definition: A word usually has only one definition.
Meaning: A word can have different meanings.
Classification
Definition: Can be broadly categorized under two classifications; intentional definition, extensional definition.
Meaning: Can be basically divided into two categories: connotation, denotation
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About the Author: Hasa
Hasa has a BA degree in English, French and Translation studies. She is currently reading for a Masters degree in English. Her areas of interests include literature, language, linguistics and also food.
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The following 2 entries include the term sense of the word.
: in every possible way
See the full definition
—used to refer to using the correct or precise meaning of a word
See the full definition
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
sense of the word — перевод на русский
The kid saw himself being punished in the literal sense of the word.
Нет, но ребенок считает себя наказанным, в прямом смысле этого слова.
I think he’s messing with us in the literal sense of the word.
А по-моему, он издевается над нами, в прямом смысле этого слова.
A real hero in the best sense of the word.
Настоящий герой, в лучшем смысле этого слова.
The automobile represents progress, in the most profound sense of the word.
Автомобиль является символом прогресса в самом глубоком смысле этого слова.
It’s not going to be a story, either in the normal sense of the word but more like an account.
Это не превратится в историю, имею в виду в обычном смысле этого слова, но скорее в плане счета.
Показать ещё примеры для «смысле этого слова»…
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In linguistics, a word sense is one of the meanings of a word. For example, a dictionary may have over 50 different senses of the word «play», each of these having a different meaning based on the context of the word’s usage in a sentence, as follows:
We went to see the play Romeo and Juliet at the theater.
The coach devised a great play that put the visiting team on the defensive.
The children went out to play in the park.
In each sentence different collocates of «play» signal its different meanings.
People and computers, as they read words, must use a process called word-sense disambiguation[1][2] to reconstruct the likely intended meaning of a word. This process uses context to narrow the possible senses down to the probable ones. The context includes such things as the ideas conveyed by adjacent words and nearby phrases, the known or probable purpose and register of the conversation or document, and the orientation (time and place) implied or expressed. The disambiguation is thus context-sensitive.
Advanced semantic analysis has resulted in a sub-distinction. A word sense corresponds either neatly to a seme (the smallest possible unit of meaning) or a sememe (larger unit of meaning), and polysemy of a word of phrase is the property of having multiple semes or sememes and thus multiple senses.
Relations between senses[edit]
Often the senses of a word are related to each other within a semantic field. A common pattern is that one sense is broader and another narrower. This is often the case in technical jargon, where the target audience uses a narrower sense of a word that a general audience would tend to take in its broader sense. For example, in casual use «orthography» will often be glossed for a lay audience as «spelling», but in linguistic usage «orthography» (comprising spelling, casing, spacing, hyphenation, and other punctuation) is a hypernym of «spelling». Besides jargon, however, the pattern is common even in general vocabulary. Examples are the variation in senses of the term «wood wool» and in those of the word «bean». This pattern entails that natural language can often lack explicitness about hyponymy and hypernymy. Much more than programming languages do, it relies on context instead of explicitness; meaning is implicit within a context. Common examples are as follows:
- The word «diabetes» without further specification usually refers to diabetes mellitus.
- The word «angina» without further specification usually refers to angina pectoris.
- The word «tuberculosis» without further specification usually refers to pulmonary tuberculosis.
- The word «emphysema» without further specification usually refers to pulmonary emphysema.
- The word «cervix» without further specification usually refers to the uterine cervix.
Usage labels of «sensu» plus a qualifier, such as «sensu stricto» («in the strict sense») or «sensu lato» («in the broad sense») are sometimes used to clarify what is meant by a text.
Relation to etymology[edit]
Polysemy entails a common historic root to a word or phrase. Broad medical terms usually followed by qualifiers, such as those in relation to certain conditions or types of anatomical locations are polysemic, and older conceptual words are with few exceptions highly polysemic (and usually beyond shades of similar meaning into the realms of being ambiguous).
Homonymy is where two separate-root words (lexemes) happen to have the same spelling and pronunciation.
See also[edit]
- denotation
- semantics – study of meaning
- lexical semantics – the study of what the words of a language denote and how it is that they do this
- word-sense induction – the task of automatically acquiring the senses of a target word
- word-sense disambiguation – the task of automatically associating a sense with a word in context
- lexical substitution – the task of replacing a word in context with a lexical substitute
- sememe – unit of meaning
- linguistics – the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied.
- sense and reference
- functor — a mathematical term which is the overarching generalization of the intentionality behind the class of transfers of intelligability at two different levels of analysis.
References[edit]
- ^ N. Ide and J. Véronis (1998). «Word Sense Disambiguation: The State of the Art» (PDF). Computational Linguistics. 24: 1–40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-01-06.
- ^ R. Navigli. Word Sense Disambiguation: A Survey, ACM Computing Surveys, 41(2), 2009, pp. 1-69.
External links[edit]
- «I don’t believe in word senses» – Adam Kilgarriff (1997) – archive
- WordNet(R) – a large lexical database of English words and their meanings maintained by the Princeton Cognitive Science Laboratory
1
герой дня
В станицах и сёлах встречали красных солдат, как освободителей… Самому Чапаеву приём оказывали чрезвычайный, — он в полном смысле был тогда «героем дня». (Д. Фурманов, Чапаев) — The Red soldiers were met as liberators in the Cossack and peasant villages… Chapayev himself was accorded an especially warm welcome. He was the hero of the day in the full sense of the word.
Русско-английский фразеологический словарь > герой дня
2
смысл
м.
прямо́й [перено́сный] смысл — literal [metaphorical / figurative] sense
смысл зако́на — meaning of the law
2) purport; point
смысл жи́зни — meaning / purport of life
смысл визи́та — the purport of the visit
3) point, sense
нет смысла туда́ идти́ — there is no point in going there; it is not worth going there
в э́том нет смысла — there’s no sense / meaning / point in it
весь смысл в том, что — the whole point is that
••
в изве́стном / не́котором смысле — in a sense; in some respect
в лу́чшем смысле э́того сло́ва — in the finest sense of the word
в том смысле, что — in the sense that
в широ́ком смысле — in the broad(er) sense
в по́лном смысле э́того сло́ва — in the true / full sense of the word
в э́том смысле — in this sense / respect
здра́вый смысл — common sense
име́ть смысл — make sense
не име́ть (никако́го) смысла — make no sense (at all)
теря́ть смысл — become pointless, beat purpose
Новый большой русско-английский словарь > смысл
3
смысл
в смысле — in the context, in terms of
2) point
в том, что он говорит, есть смысл — he’s got a point there
Russian-english dctionary of diplomacy > смысл
4
смысл
(
) sense; () meaning; () purport
прямой, переносный смысл — literal, metaphorical / figurative sense
нет никакого смысла (+ ) — there is no point (in ), it is no good (+ )
в том смысле, что — in the sense, that
в широком смысле — in the broad sense
весь смысл в том, что — the whole point is, that
Русско-английский словарь Смирнитского > смысл
5
в полном смысле слова
Универсальный русско-английский словарь > в полном смысле слова
6
в прямом смысле слова
Универсальный русско-английский словарь > в прямом смысле слова
7
иметь смысл
1. be worth-while
2. worth
3. be worth
4. be worth while
5. it pays
6. make sense
Русско-английский большой базовый словарь > иметь смысл
8
буквально
Универсальный русско-английский словарь > буквально
9
в буквальном смысле слова
in the proper (true, full) sense of the word (term); literally
Он был в полном смысле слова богатырь, и притом типический, простодушный, добрый русский богатырь. (Н. Лесков, Очарованный странник) — He put one in mind of a bogatyr in the full sense of the word — a bogatyr of the simple, kindly Russian type.
Онкилоны не знали употребления железа и других металлов и были в полном смысле слова людьми каменного века. (В. Обручев, Земля Санникова) — The Onkilons did not know the use of iron or other metals and, strictly speaking, were people of the Stone Age.
Даже Волга, покрывшаяся нефтью, представляла из себя огненную полосу. То тут, то там мелькали вспышки разрывов, поднимались фонтаны воды. Гвардейцы шли через Волгу, в буквальном смысле слова, сквозь огонь и воду. (А. Родимцев, На последнем рубеже) — Even the oil-filmed Volga had turned into a ribbon of fire. Here and there shell-bursts flashed and lifted fountains of water. The Guardsmen crossed the Volga literally through fire and water.
Насколько могла понять Элеонора, Харт и его люди следствия в полном смысле слова не вели. Они, скорее, наблюдали ситуацию, курировали её. (В. Черняк, Час пробил) — As far as Eleanor knew, Hart and his men weren’t conducting any investigation in the true sense of the word. They were, rather, observing the situation, cooperating.
Русско-английский фразеологический словарь > в буквальном смысле слова
10
в самом точном значении слова
Универсальный русско-английский словарь > в самом точном значении слова
11
в точном значении слова
Универсальный русско-английский словарь > в точном значении слова
12
С-424
В ПОЛНОМ СМЫСЛЕ СЛОВА
PrepP
Invar
nonagreeing
modif
fixed
WO
(one is a certain type of person,
sth.
is a certain type of thing or phenomenon
etc
) entirely, in every way: (a
NP
) in the fullest (full, true) sense of the word.
Большой русско-английский фразеологический словарь > С-424
13
в полном смысле слова
[
PrepP
;
Invar
; nonagreeing
modif
; fixed
WO
]
=====
⇒ (one is a certain type of person,
sth.
is a certain type of thing or phenomenon
etc
) entirely, in every way:
— (a [
NP
]) in the fullest <full, true> sense of the word.
♦ [Утешительный:] [Аркадий Андреевич Дергунов] игру ведёт отличную, честности беспримерной… люди у него воспитанны, камергеры, дом — дворец, деревня, сады, всё это по аглицкому [obs = английскому] образцу. Словом, русский барин в полном смысле слова (Гоголь 2). [U.:] Не [Arkady Andreievich Dergunov] is a first-rate player, of exemplary honesty;.,.his servants are refined people, perfect gentlemen, his house is a regular palace, his estate, his parks are all in the English style; in fact he is a Russian gentleman in the fullest sense of the word (2b).
♦ Угрюм-Бурчеев был прохвост [used here in its obsolete meaning] в полном смысле этого слова. Не потому только, что он занимал эту должность в полку, но прохвост всем своим существом, всеми помыслами (Салтыков-Щедрин 1). Gloom-Grumblev was a hangman in the full sense of the word. Not only because he occupied this post in the regiment, but a hangman in his whole being, all his thoughts (1a).
Большой русско-английский фразеологический словарь > в полном смысле слова
14
без смысла
Русско-английский большой базовый словарь > без смысла
15
смысл
1. purport
2. significance
3. understandability
4. sense; meaning; respect; use
5. force
6. hang
7. meaning
8. point
9. signification
10. spirit
Синонимический ряд:
1. значение (сущ.) значение
2. резон (сущ.) резон
Антонимический ряд:
бессмыслица; бессмыслицу
Русско-английский большой базовый словарь > смысл
16
слово
ласковое слово, ласковые слова — endearing words
сдержать слово — keep* one’s word; be as good as one’s word
нарушать слово — break* one’s word, go* back upon / on one’s word
верить на слово кому-л. в чём-л. — take* smb.’s word for smth.
дар слова — gift of words; talent for speaking
ни слова — not a word, not a syllable
одни, пустые слова — mere words
на словах — by word of mouth, in words
к слову — by the way, by the by(e)
нет слов, чтобы описать — one can’t find the language, there are no words, to describe
слово за слово — little by little; one word led to another
давать слово () — give* the floor (); ask () to speak
«Слово о полку Игореве» — The Song of Igor’s Campaign
Русско-английский словарь Смирнитского > слово
17
слово
с.
2) word(s)
ла́сковые слова́ — endearing words
оскорби́тельное сло́во — insulting word
неосторо́жно бро́шенное сло́во — carelessly spoken word
сло́во утеше́ния — word of consolation
3) word
реша́ющее сло́во принадлежи́т ему́ — it is for him to decide; he has the final разг.
сказа́ть своё ве́ское сло́во — pronounce (on)
дава́ть сло́во — give / pledge one’s word (of honour)
сдержа́ть сло́во — keep one’s word; be as good as one’s word
наруша́ть сло́во — break one’s word, go back upon / on one’s word
5) speech
приве́тственное сло́во — words of welcome, welcoming address
заключи́тельное сло́во — concluding remarks pl
надгро́бное сло́во — funeral oration
брать сло́во — take the floor
проси́ть сло́ва — ask for the floor
дава́ть / предоставля́ть сло́во — give the floor; ask to speak
сло́во предоставля́ется мэ́ру — the mayor has the floor
вам сло́во — you have the floor
лиша́ть сло́ва кого́-л — deprive smb of the right to speak; take the floor away from smb
слова́ но́вой пе́сни — the lyrics of a new song
рома́нс на слова́ Пу́шкина — poem by Pushkin set to music, song to words from Pushkin
«Сло́во о полку́ И́гореве» — «The Song of Igor’s Campaign» [-‘peɪn], «The Lay of Igor’s Warfare»
••
сло́во в сло́во — word for word
сло́во за́ слово разг. — little by little; one word led to another
сло́во не воробе́й, вы́летит — не пойма́ешь посл. — ≈ a word spoken is past recalling; what is said cannot be unsaid
без ли́шних / да́льних слов — without wasting words [one’s breath], without further ado
брать / взять свои́ слова́ наза́д / обра́тно — retract [take back] one’s words; eat one’s words идиом.
я заста́влю его́ взять свои́ слова́ наза́д — I shall make him take back words; I shall force him to eat his words идиом.
броса́ться слова́ми — make empty promises; not to mean what one says
в двух слова́х — in a couple of words; in brief
в по́лном смы́сле сло́ва — in the true sense of the word
взве́шивать (свои́) слова́, взве́шивать ка́ждое сло́во — weigh one’s words [every word]; choose words carefully
дар сло́ва — gift of words; talent for speaking
двух слов связа́ть не мо́жет — smb can’t put / string two words together
други́ми слова́ми — in other words
и сло́вом и де́лом — by word and deed
игра́ слов — play on words; pun
к сло́ву (сказа́ть) вводн. сл. — by the way, incidentally
к сло́ву пришло́сь — it just happened to come up in the conversation; it seemed appropriate to mention
лови́ть / пойма́ть на сло́ве кого́-л — см. ловить
мне ну́жно сказа́ть вам два сло́ва — I want a word with you
на слова́х — 1) verbally, orally 2) in words (only)
э́то всё то́лько на слова́х — those are mere words
нет слов, что́бы описа́ть [вы́разить] — one can’t find the language [there are no words] to describe
слов нет разг. — 1) there’s no denying; that’s for sure 2) unspeakably; extremely; I can’t tell you (how)
она́ слов нет как хороша́ — she is unspeakably / fabulously beautiful
ни сло́ва — not a word
не произнести́ / пророни́ть ни сло́ва — not to say / utter a word
никому́ ни сло́ва! — not a word to anyone!
но́вое сло́во (в ) — a significant step forward (in); a breakthrough (in); a new contribution / dimension (to)
одни́ / пусты́е слова́ — mere / empty words / verbiage
одни́м сло́вом — in a / one word; in short
не находи́ть слов — ≈ words fail smb
я не нахожу́ слов — words fail me
по его́ слова́м — according to him
помяни́те моё сло́во — mark my words pl
после́днее сло́во, по после́днему сло́ву — см. последний
руга́ть(ся) после́дними слова́ми — см. последний
свои́ми слова́ми — in one’s own words
с чужи́х слов — from a secondhand account, according to what others have said
челове́к сло́ва — man of his word
че́стное сло́во, на че́стном сло́ве — см. честный
Новый большой русско-английский словарь > слово
18
слово
ср.
1) word; term
брать слово — to make smb. promise/swear
слов нет — there’s no denying it, there is no question/doubt about it, it is beyond dispute (that) ; I can’t tell you how…,it is beyond belief
слово не воробей, вылетит — не поймаешь — words once spoken you can never recall
слово — серебро, молчание — золото — speech is silver, silence is golden/gold
дар слова — gift of words; talent of speaking
ни слова — not a word, not a syllable
новое слово — a (major) breakthrough, a step forward, a major advance
последнее слово — the last word, the latest (thing) ( новейшее); the last word, the final word ( в споре); concluding statement, final plea ( в суде)
сложное слово — compound, compound word, stem-compound лингв.
— без лишних слов
— брать свои слова назад
— брать свои слова обратно
— верить на слово
— взвешивать каждое слово
— взвешивать слова
— давать честное слово
— давать слово
— давать себе слово
— другими словами
— к слову сказать
— ловить каждое слово
— ловить на слове
— на словах
— нарушать слово
— не обмолвиться ни единым словом
— не обмолвиться ни одним словом
— от слова до слова
— по словам
— последними словами
— с чужих слов
— своими словами
— сдержать слово
— слово в слово
— слово за слово
— со слов
— честное слово!
speech, address
лишать слова — (кого-л.) to take the floor away from smb., to cut smb. off, to cut smb. short
предоставить слово, дать слово — (кому-л.) to give to smb. permission to speak, to give smb. the floor, to ask to speak
просить слово — to ask permission to speak, to ask for the floor
••
Русско-английский словарь по общей лексике > слово
19
другими словами
1. put it in another way
2. put the other way round
3. that is to say
4. which is to say
5. in other words
6. to put in the other way round
7. to put it in another way
Русско-английский большой базовый словарь > другими словами
20
в широком смысле
Русско-английский словарь по общей лексике > в широком смысле