Difference between revisions of "Definition"
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| − | A '''definition''' is a meaning that uses a word or a phrase to mark off the conceptual limits of what a thing is. | + | A '''definition''' is a meaning that uses a word or a phrase to mark off the conceptual limits of what a thing is, or to what thing a word refers. |
A definition of a name (''definitio nominis'') sets a clear value for a [[word]] or [[phrase]] so that the parties involved will definitely know what that word/phrase means when they talk about the word/phrase. It is a common establishment not only in [[language]], but also in [[logic]] and [[mathematics]]. For example, ''I call soul that which is the principle of thought within us''. | A definition of a name (''definitio nominis'') sets a clear value for a [[word]] or [[phrase]] so that the parties involved will definitely know what that word/phrase means when they talk about the word/phrase. It is a common establishment not only in [[language]], but also in [[logic]] and [[mathematics]]. For example, ''I call soul that which is the principle of thought within us''. | ||
Revision as of 22:51, March 7, 2020
A definition is a meaning that uses a word or a phrase to mark off the conceptual limits of what a thing is, or to what thing a word refers.
A definition of a name (definitio nominis) sets a clear value for a word or phrase so that the parties involved will definitely know what that word/phrase means when they talk about the word/phrase. It is a common establishment not only in language, but also in logic and mathematics. For example, I call soul that which is the principle of thought within us.
A definition of a thing (definitio rei) is the maintenance that other ideas are contained in a certain term (assuming common usage) referring to a thing. For example, Man is a rational animal.[1]
A dictionary definition is an explanation of that which a word signifies, according to the word's common usage or its etymology.[1]
A definition of a name is arbitrary; it can choose one narrower definition of a word extracted from a broader commonly used definition, assign a word an analogous meaning, give a word an entirely new meaning, or even apply itself to an entirely new word. The ideas employed in a definition of a thing on the other hand are not arbitrary but must apply themselves to comprehending their object and to the extent that they fail to do so, they must be redetermined.[1]
Academic and Technical Definitions
Many words have multiple definitions of similar connotation, such as line.[2] A line can refer to a finite group of people in a row or a stripe of paint along the highway,[3] but in geometry, it refers strictly to an infinite mass of one dimension which can exist in other dimensions.[4] The definition in geometry would be its academic definition.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Arnauld, Antoine (1662). Logic or the Art of Thinking: Being The Port Royal Logic. Ed. and trans. T. S. Baynes. London: W. Blackwood, 1850 (La logique ou l'art de penser; contenant outre les règles communes, plusieurs observations nouvelles, propres à former le jugement, Paris), pp. 78-9.
- ↑ Merriam-Webster's Third International Dictionary. 1960.
- ↑ The American College Dictionary. Random House. New York, 1956
- ↑ "1.2: Points, Lines, and Planes." Beauty, Rigor, Surprise.