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denotative

American  
[dee-noh-tey-tiv, dih-noh-tuh-tiv] / ˈdi noʊˌteɪ tɪv, dɪˈnoʊ tə tɪv /

adjective

  1. having power to denote.

  2. denoting or tending to denote.

    the denotative meaning of a word.


denotative British  
/ dɪˈnəʊtətɪv /

adjective

  1. able to denote; designative

  2. explicit; overt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of denotative

1605–15; < Latin dēnotātus (past participle of dēnotāre to mark out, denote ( def. ) ) + -ive

Vocabulary lists containing denotative

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The denotative meanings of these abbreviations vary over a wide range.

From The Guardian Jun. 6, 2013

To use the phraseology of Harvard and Radcliffe, the Sulphite is connotative, the Bromide denotative.

From Are You a Bromide? The Sulphitic Theory Expounded and Exemplified According to the Most Recent Researches into the Psychology of Boredom Including Many Well-Known Bromidioms Now in Use by Burgess, Gelett

Besides their use in illustrating the denotative force of propositions, these circles may be employed to verify the results of Obversion, Conversion, and the secondary modes of Immediate Inference.

From Logic Deductive and Inductive by Read, Carveth

Another peculiar doctrine expounded here is that all words have natural denotative powers by which they themselves out of their own nature refer to certain objects irrespective of their comprehension or non-comprehension by the hearer.

From A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 by Dasgupta, Surendranath

Definitions are of three types, denotative, expository, scientific.

From How We Think by Dewey, John

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