reference

/ɹˈɛfɚəns/ · 3 syllables

Meaning

noun

1. a remark that calls attention to something or someone
   “she made frequent mention of her promotion”
2. a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage
   “the student's essay failed to list several important citations”
3. an indicator that orients you generally
   “it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved”
4. a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts
   “he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic”
5. a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability
   “requests for character references are all too often answered evasively”
6. the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to
   “the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos”
7. the act of referring or consulting
   “reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer”
8. a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to
   “he carried an armful of references back to his desk”
9. (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored
10. the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to
    “he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes”

verb

1. refer to
   “he referenced his colleagues' work”

Synonyms for reference

• mention
• citation
• cite
• acknowledgment
• credit
• quotation
• reference point
• point of reference
• reference book
• reference work
• book of facts
• character
• character reference
• denotation
• extension
• consultation
• source
• address
• computer address

Words that rhyme with reference

• preference
• deference