definition

Etymology

From Middle English diffinicioun, from Middle French definition, from Latin dēfīnītiō, from dēfīniō. Equivalent to define + -ition.

noun

1. (semantics, lexicography) A statement of the meaning of a word or word group or a sign or symbol (word/dictionary">dictionary definitions).
   Your definition of "elephant" needs to be more precise than "a big animal with large ears".
   DEFINITIONS mean nothing unless the concept in the mind of the men who makes the definition is the same as that in the mind of the man who hears it. 1925, Thomas R. Marshall, Recollections of Thomas R. Marshall, Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, →OL, page 65
2. (usually with the definite article the) A clear instance conforming to the dictionary or textbook definition.
   Baroque is a good game, but only for a very narrow subset of the gaming audience. It is the very definition of a niche title. 2008 May, Shoeless Wayne Santos, “Baroque” (game review), GameAxis Unwired, Hardware Zone Pte, page 51
   Comedy Bang! Bang! It’s silly, it spoofy – it’s the very definition of a hidden gem March 1 2016, Stuart Heritage, “Comedy Bang! Bang! It’s silly, it spoofy - it’s the very definition of a hidden gem”, in The Guardian
   That Trump just came out and asked for Zelensky to investigate the Bidens – after reminding him several times of how much the US did for Ukraine!!!! – is something very close to the textbook definition of a quid pro quo. September 25 2019, Chris Cilizza, “The Ukraine call ‘transcript’ is pretty darn close to a smoking gun”, in ThePo!nt, CNN
3. A statement expressing the essential nature of something; formulation
4. The action or process of defining.
5. The act of defining; determination of the limits.
6. A product of defining.
7. The action or power of describing, explaining, or making definite and clear.
   Her comic genius is beyond definition.
8. Clarity of visual presentation, distinctness of outline or detail.
   The definition of a telescope.
   Improve the definition of an image.
   high-defintion videos
9. Clarity, especially of musical sound in reproduction.
10. Sharp demarcation of outlines or limits.
    A jacket with distinct waist definition.
11. (bodybuilding) The degree to which individual muscles are distinct on the body.
12. (programming) A statement which provides a previous declaration with a value or body of a subroutine (in the case of function).
13. (mathematics) A statement that establishes the referent of a term or notation.