referent

noun

ref·​er·​ent ˈre-f(ə-)rənt 

: one that refers or is referred to

especially : the thing that a symbol (such as a word or sign) stands for

referent adjective

Examples of referent in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Just to use a word is to acknowledge the absence of its referent, as though language itself makes loss our theme and medium. —Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 June 2023

Its originators wanted to escape their subservience to real-world referents and let shape and color act as a language all their own, like musical notes. —Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 5 May 2023

Academics and conceptual artists quivered with excitement after the news broke—referent, context, appropriation, etc. —Hernan Diaz, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Feb. 2023

Like most graphical widgets, tabs are metaphors whose referent has been largely forgotten. —Meghan O'Gieblyn, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2023

To sum it up in one sentence: the original writing systems began with mostly pictorial characters that resembled their referent, and over time became more efficient and abstract, including a greater number of signs that represented sounds and semantic information. —Bridget Alex, Discover Magazine, 2 Jan. 2019

Here, from a twenty-three-year-old, was a new tone in the language, a different way of saying, pushing back against expectations of rhythm and syntax and referent. —Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 16 Mar. 2023

Of course, the typical symbolic referent for the Stranger is Death or Change or God — those pesky, perennial, uninvited guests. —Helen Shaw, Vulture, 23 June 2022

The image is suggestive, a signifier without a referent. —Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 29 Oct. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Latin referent-, referens, present participle of referre

First Known Use

1844, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

referent

noun

ref·​er·​ent ˈref-(ə-)rənt 

: something that refers or is referred to

especially : the thing a word represents

referent adjective