denote

verb

de·note | \ di-ˈnōt

, dē-\

denoted; denoting; denotes

Definition of denote

transitive verb

1 : to serve as an indication of : betoken the swollen bellies that denote starvation

2 : to serve as an arbitrary mark for red flares denoting danger

3 : to make known : announce his crestfallen look denoted his distress

4a : to serve as a linguistic expression of the notion of : mean in the southern U.S., the word "toboggan" denotes a stocking cap

b : to stand for : designate the symbol / denotes "or," "and or," or "per" An epiphany is, literally, a showing. In Christian terminology it denotes the showing of the infant Jesus to the three Magi.— David Lodge

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Examples of denote in a Sentence

The word “derby” can denote a horse race or a kind of hat. Her death denoted the end of an era.

Recent Examples on the Web

By the mid-nineteen-twenties, the guide had expanded to much of Western Europe and was using single stars to denote particularly good restaurants. — Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, "The Michelin Guide’s Not Entirely Welcome Return to L.A.," 5 June 2019 Additionally, trad climbs sometimes carry a risk rating, PG, R, or X, to denote the seriousness of the fall potential. — Freddie Wilkinson, National Geographic, "Rock climbing: from ancient practice to Olympic sport," 14 Mar. 2019 Others with ** denote data partnerships that the company will continue without allowing the outside company access to friends’ data. 1. — Makena Kelly, The Verge, "Facebook details data sharing agreements with Amazon, Qualcomm, and AT&T among others," 2 July 2018 The revealing coefficient, denoted by R, is defined as 1 − 1/X : A strategy that reveals little about the exact locations of the fake coins corresponds to a higher number of new possibilities. — Nicholas Diaco, Scientific American, "Privacy and Counterfeit Coins," 20 Mar. 2018 To many Westerners, the Caucasus, denoting both a mountain range and the constellation of ex-Soviet territories that spans it, still seems shrouded in enigma. — Henry Wismayer, WSJ, "Trekking Through a Mysterious, Mesmerizing Old World," 2 May 2019 But the rebels wore green to differentiate themselves from the British, who clothed themselves in red, and the color has since come to denote Ireland and the Irish to all the world. — Jill Gleeson, Country Living, "Here's the Real History of St Patrick's Day," 15 Mar. 2019 In 2018 those thresholds also denoted where the new tax deduction for pass-through business income begins phasing out for some businesses. — Richard Rubin, WSJ, "Trump Tax Cut to Be Eroded Next Year by Inflation Switch," 15 Nov. 2018 Rectangular marks on the mosaic may denote where couches were placed. — James Rogers, Fox News, "Exquisite ancient mosaic uncovered in Israel," 31 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'denote.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.