FromMiddle Frenchréférence, fromMedieval Latinreferentia, nominative neuter plural ofreferēns, present participle ofreferō(“return, reply”, literally“carry back”). Morphologicallyrefer +‎-ence.

• IPA^(key):/ˈɹɛf.(ə)ɹəns/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• (obsolete)IPA^(key):/ˈɹɛfəɹɛns/^[1]
• Hyphenation:ref‧er‧ence
• Rhymes:-ɛfəɹəns

reference (countable anduncountable,pluralreferences)

1. (literary orarchaic) Arelationship orrelation (to something).
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym;Robert Burton], “Charity, compoſed of all three kindes, Pleaſant, Profitable, Honeſt”, inThe Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire:[…] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps,→OCLC, partition 3, section 1, member 3, subsection 1,page349:

     A man is beloued of a man, in that he is a man, but all theſe are farre more eminent and great, when they ſhal proceed from a ſanctified ſpirit, that hath a true touch of Religion, and areference to God.

2. A measurement one can compare (some other measurement) to.
3. Information about a person, provided by someone (areferee) with whom they are well acquainted.
   • a.1800,William Cowper, “An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq.”, inThe Task, Tirocinium, and Other Poems,page180:

     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—areference to you.

4. (UK,Ireland) A person who provides this information; areferee.
5. (oftenattributive) Areference 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) Arelation between objects in which one objectdesignates, or acts as a means by which toconnect to orlink to, another object.
8. (academic writing) A short writtenidentification of a previously published work which is used as asource for a text.
9. (academic writing) A previously publishedwrittenwork 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.
    • c.1606–1607 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene ii],page365, column 1:

      Y’are falne into a Princely hand, feare nothing, / Make your fullreference freely to my Lord, / Who is ſo full of Grace, that it flowes ouer / On all that neede.

• sense
• handle

reference (third-person singular simple presentreferences,present participlereferencing,simple past and past participlereferenced)

1. To provide a list of references for (a text).

   You must thoroughlyreference your paper before submitting it.

2. To refer to, to use as a reference.

   Reference the dictionary for word meanings.

   • 1990, Thomas L. Bell, “Political Economy's Response to Positivism”, inGeographical Review, volume80, number 3, American Geographical Society,→JSTOR, page314:

     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 toreference each other’s work incessantly.

   • 1994, Barry Chamish, quoting Louis Rossetto, “The End of the Book”, inThe Atlantic‎^[1]:

     Written information is a relatively new phenomenon. Depositing it and being able toreference it centuries later is not common human experience.

   • 1998 January 26, Donnie Radcliffe, “New Library Will Chronicle First Ladies”, inThe Washington Post, pageC1+:

     On the Florence Harding page, for instance, a researcher will be able toreference a book by Waarren Harding’s alleged mistress, Nan Britton, who claimed that she bore his daughter.

3. Tomention, tocite.

   In his speech, the candidate obliquelyreferenced the past failures of his opponent.

   • 1988,Integrating the Humanities into Associate Degree Occupational Programs,American Association of Community Colleges,→ISBN, page25:

     Humanities institutions specificallyreference the work setting for illustrative applications of the unique and significant contributions of the Humanities.

   • 1990, Jean Borgatti, “Portraiture in Africa”, inAfrican Arts, volume23, number 3, page37:

     With the economy characteristic of all African sculpture, these portraitsreference 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.

   • 1991 January 19,Bobby Ray Inman, “A Nominee’s Withdrawal: Transcript of the Statement by Inman on His Decision to Withdraw”, inThe New York Times‎^[2],pageA14:

     And I would simplyreference those of you who are out there working.

4. (programming) To contain thevalue that is amemoryaddress of some value stored in memory.

   The given pointer willreference the actual generated data.

• Some authorities object to the use ofreference as a verb with a meaning other than “provide a list of references for,” preferringrefer to orcite in these cases. Others allow the meaning “cite [as evidence, an example, etc.]” but reject “mention.”^[2] Nevertheless, the proscribed usages are common in both writing and speech.

• cross-reference

• referee
• referent
• referential
• relate
• relation

• “reference”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “reference”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
• “reference”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.

Borrowed fromGermanReferenz, fromFrenchréférence.

• IPA^(key):[ˈrɛfɛrɛnt͡sɛ]

reference f

1. reference
2. recommendation

• “reference”, inPříruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech),1935–1957
• “reference”, inSlovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech),1960–1971, 1989
• “reference”, inInternetová jazyková příručka (in Czech),2008–2025