reference

Etymology

From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence.

noun

1. (literary or archaic) A relationship or relation (to something).
2. A measurement one can compare (some other measurement) to.
3. Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted.
   Changes will befall, and friends may part, / But distance only cannot change the heart / And were I call’d to prove th’ assertion true, / One proof should serve—a reference to you. a. 1800, William Cowper, “An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq.”, in The Task, Tirocinium, and Other Poems, page 180
4. (UK, Ireland) A person who provides this information; a referee.
5. (often attributive) A reference work.
   reference grammar ― detailed linguistic description of a particular language's grammar
   Reference Dictionary of Linguistics
6. The act of referring: a submitting for information or decision.
7. (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.
8. (academic writing) A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.
9. (academic writing) A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.
10. (computing) An object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself.
11. (programming, character entity) A special sequence used to represent complex characters in markup languages, such as ™ for the ™ symbol.
12. (obsolete) Appeal.

verb

1. To provide a list of references for (a text).
   You must thoroughly reference your paper before submitting it.
2. To refer to, to use as a reference.
   Reference the dictionary for word meanings.
   The penchant for synthesizing the work of others that pervades British scholarship has been described by one of my cynical American colleagues as “a giant bibliography that is always eating its own tail.” By this he means that cliques of like-minded writers tend to reference each other’s work incessantly. 1990, Thomas L. Bell, “Political Economy's Response to Positivism”, in Geographical Review, volume 80, number 3, American Geographical Society, →JSTOR, page 314
   Written information is a relatively new phenomenon. Depositing it and being able to reference it centuries later is not common human experience. 1994, Barry Chamish, quoting Louis Rossetto, “The End of the Book”, in The Atlantic
   On the Florence Harding page, for instance, a researcher will be able to reference a book by Waarren Harding’s alleged mistress, Nan Britton, who claimed that she bore his daughter. 1998-01-26, Donnie Radcliffe, “New Library Will Chronicle First Ladies”, in The Washington Post, page C1+
3. To mention, to cite.
   In his speech, the candidate obliquely referenced the past failures of his opponent.
   Humanities institutions specifically reference the work setting for illustrative applications of the unique and significant contributions of the Humanities. 1988, Integrating the Humanities into Associate Degree Occupational Programs, American Association of Community Colleges, page 25
   With the economy characteristic of all African sculpture, these portraits reference individual and social identities simultaneously, so that the image of a king may represent a particular king and all kings; a commemorative mask for a woman, a particular woman and all titled women. 1990, Jean Borgatti, “Portraiture in Africa”, in African Arts, volume 23, number 3, page 37
   And I would simply reference those of you who are out there working. 1991-01-19, Bobby Ray Inman, “A Nominee’s Withdrawal: Transcript of the Statement by Inman on His Decision to Withdraw”, in The New York Times, page A14
4. (programming) To contain the value that is a memory address of some value stored in memory.
   The given pointer will reference the actual generated data.