Associations to the word «Denotation»

Wiktionary

DENOTATION, noun. The act of denoting, or something (such as a symbol) that denotes
DENOTATION, noun. (logic) (linguistics) (semiotics) The primary, literal, or explicit meaning of a word, phrase, or symbol; that which a word denotes, as contrasted with its connotation; the aggregate or set of objects of which a word may be predicated.
DENOTATION, noun. (philosophy) (logic) The intension and extension of a word
DENOTATION, noun. (semantics) Something signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol
DENOTATION, noun. (semiotics) The surface or literal meaning encoded to a signifier, and the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary
DENOTATION, noun. (computer science) Any mathematical object which describes the meanings of expressions from the languages, formalized in the theory of denotational semantics
DENOTATION, noun. (media-studies) A first level of analysis: what the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor.

Dictionary definition

DENOTATION, noun. The act of indicating or pointing out by name.
DENOTATION, noun. 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".

Wise words

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne