denotation

American  

[dee-noh-tey-shuhn] / ˌdi noʊˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it; the association or set of associations that a word usually elicits for most speakers of a language, as distinguished from those elicited for any individual speaker because of personal experience.

2. a word that names or signifies something specific.

   “Wind” is the denotation for air in natural motion. “Poodle” is the denotation for a certain breed of dog.

3. the act or fact of denoting; indication.

4. something that denotes; mark; symbol.

5. Logic.

   1. the class of particulars to which a term is applicable.

   2. that which is represented by a sign.

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denotation British  

/ ˌdiːnəʊˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of denoting; indication

2. a particular meaning, esp one given explicitly rather than by suggestion

3. 1. something designated or referred to Compare referent connotation

   2. another name for extension

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denotation Cultural  

1. The basic dictionary meaning of a word, without its connotations. For example, the denotation of the word modern is “belonging to recent times,” although the word may have different connotations.

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Etymology

Origin of denotation

1525–35; < Latin dēnotātiōn- (stem of dēnotātiō ) a marking out, equivalent to dēnotāt ( us ) (past participle of dēnotāre; see denote) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Denotation means the literal meaning of a word or name. Although Paris might make you think of romance, its denotation is simply "the city of an old tribe called the Parisii." The Latin word denotare means "to mark," and denotation originally meant "the act of marking or the expression of something through a sign." Now we tend to use denotation in opposition to connotation, which is indirect or symbolic meaning. The denotation of rose is a particular kind of flower, while the connotation is of romantic love; the denotation of river is a body of water, while its connotation might be the unending flow of time.

Example Sentences

They have the denotation level, which is what they mean in the dictionary sense.

From Salon • Feb. 9, 2022

Beginning writers tend to think that definition writing looks only at the denotation, or dictionary definition.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

He creates a stirring reciprocity between visual denotation and material form.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2015

If you have not thought much about iambs and trochees, or denotation and connotation, or synecdoche and metonymy in recent years, you are in for a day tripper’s version of literary spelunking.

From New York Times • Jul. 26, 2011

If the name be abstract, its denotation is the same with the connotation of the corresponding concrete; it designates directly the attribute, which the concrete term implies.

From A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive by Mill, John Stuart