Referentiality

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic of indicating or pointing to an external object, concept, or entity beyond itself
2. The property of expressing or standing for something other than itself in communication or representation
3. The state of being related to or dependent on a referent in language, logic, or symbolism

Etymology: "Referentiality" is a straightforward formation: it is "referential" with the abstract-noun suffix "-ity" added, so the history lies mostly in the two parts. "Referential" comes from "refer," which in its original sense meant to carry a matter back to someone for decision or to bring something back to a source, from Latin "referre," meaning "to bring back." Over time the sense moved from handing something back to pointing toward it, which is how "referential" came to describe words or signs that point to something beyond themselves. The suffix "-ity" comes from Latin "-itas," used to turn adjectives into nouns of quality or state. Attaching it to "referential" yields a noun naming the quality of pointing outward to something other than the sign itself, a property that linguists and philosophers discuss when they ask how a word or image connects to the thing it stands for.

Synonyms: reference, denotation, signification

Antonyms: ambiguity, indirection