reference

For information on how references should be handled on Wiktionary, see Wiktionary:References

See also: référence

English

Wikipedia Wikipedia

Etymology

From refer +‎ -ence.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛf.ɹəns/, /ˈɹɛf.ɜː(ɹ).əns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

reference (plural references)

1. A relationship or relation (to something).
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, III.1.3:

     all these are far more eminent and great, when they shall proceed from a sanctified spirit, that hath a true touch of religion and a reference to God.

2. A measurement one can compare to.
3. Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted
4. A reference work.
5. (semantics) A relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object.
6. (academic writing) A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.
7. (academic writing) A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.
8. (programming) An object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself.
9. (programming, character entity) A special sequence used to represent complex characters in a web page such as ™ or €.
10. (obsolete) appeal
    • Shakespeare

      Make your full reference.

Derived terms

• self-reference
• reference work
• reference book
• frame of reference
• point of reference
• reference manual

Translations

measurement one can compare to

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 參考, 参考 (zh) (cānkǎo)

• Dutch: referentie (nl) f
• Estonian: referents
• Finnish: vertausarvo, referenssi
• French: référence (fr) f
• German: Referenz (de) f
• Japanese: 参考 (ja) (さんこう, sankō)
• Korean: 참고 (ko) (chamgo) (參考 (ko)), 참조 (ko) (chamjo) (參照 (ko))

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: سه‌رچاوه‌ (sarchAwa)

• Portuguese: referência (pt) f
• Romanian: referință (ro) f
• Russian: образец (ru) m (obrazéc), отношение (ru) n (otnošénije), референция (ru) f (referéncija), ссылка (ru) f (ssýlka)
• Turkish: referans (tr)

information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 證明, 证明 (zh) (zhèngmíng)

• Dutch: referent m, referente (nl) f
• Estonian: soovitus
• Finnish: suositus (fi)
• French: recommandation (fr) f
• German: Referenz (de) f

• Japanese: 照会 (ja) (shōkai), 照会先 (しょうかいさき, shōkaisaki)
• Portuguese: referência (pt) f
• Russian: рекомендация (ru) f (rekomendácija), поручительство (ru) n (poručítel’stvo), референция (ru) f (referéncija), характеристика (ru) f (xarakterístika)
• Turkish: referans (tr)

reference work — see reference work

academic writing: identification of a source

• Finnish: lähdeviittaus, viite (fi)
• Navajo: naaltsoos bitsʼą́ą́dóó ééhózinii
• Portuguese: referência (pt) f

• Russian: ссылка (ru) f (ssýlka), референция (ru) f (referéncija)
• Swedish: källhänvisning

academic writing: source

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 來源 (zh), 来源 (zh) (láiyuán)

• Dutch: referentie (nl) f
• Esperanto: referenco
• Estonian: allikas
• Finnish: lähde (fi)
• French: référence (fr) f
• German: Quelle (de) f
• Greek: πηγές pl (pigés)
• Haitian Creole: referans

• Japanese: 出典 (shutten)
• Navajo: naaltsoos bitsʼą́ą́dóó ééhózinii
• Portuguese: referência (pt) f
• Romanian: referință (ro) f, sursă de referință f
• Russian: ссылка (ru) f (ssýlka), отсылка (ru) f (otsýlka), источник (ru) m (istóčnik)
• Scottish Gaelic: iomradh m
• Spanish: referencia (es) f
• Turkish: kaynak (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: referenco
• French: référence f, allusion f, renvoi m

• Ido: refero
• Persian: اشاره (fa) (ešâre), شناس (fa) (šenâs), منبع (fa) (manba)
• Swedish: referens

See also

• sense

Verb

reference (third-person singular simple present references, present participle referencing, simple past and past participle referenced)

1. to refer to, to make reference to, to cite

   Reference the dictionary for word meanings.

2. to mention

Usage notes

• Some authorities object to the use of reference as a verb, preferring "refer to" or "cite".

Translations

to refer to

• Estonian: viitama
• Finnish: viitata (fi)
• French: faire référence à
• German: referenzieren (de)

• Japanese: 参照する (sanshō suru)
• Polish: odnosić się do
• Portuguese: referenciar
• Russian: ссылаться (ru) (ssylátsja) + на (na) impf.

to mention

• Finnish: viitata (fi), mainita (fi)
• Japanese: 言及する (genkyū suru)

• Portuguese: referenciar, mencionar (pt)
• Russian: упоминать (ru) impf (upominát')

Related terms

• referee
• referent
• referential

External links

• reference in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• reference in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911