different between intimation vs reference

English

Etymology

From Middle French intimation, from Latin intimatio

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nt??me???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

intimation (plural intimations)

1. The act of intimating.
2. The thing intimated.
3. Announcement; declaration.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Holland to this entry?)

     They made an edict with an intimation that whosoever killed a stork, should be banished.

4. A hint; an obscure or indirect suggestion or notice; a remote or ambiguous reference.
   • 1862, Henry David Thoreau, Walking:

     At length, perchance, the immaterial heaven will appear as much higher to the American mind, and the intimations that star it as much brighter.

   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 378:

     And actually I had important intimations to communicate as he faced the end. But intimations weren't much use.

Translations

Related terms

• intimacy
• intimate

References

• “intimation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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

English

Etymology

From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of refer?ns, present participle of refer? (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”).

Morphologically refer +? -ence.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???f.(?)??ns/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /???f???ns/
• Hyphenation: ref?er?ence

Noun

reference (countable and uncountable, plural references)

1. (literary or archaic) A relationship or relation (to something).
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 person who provides this information; a referee.
5. A reference work.
6. (attributive) That which serves as a reference work.

7. The act of referring: a submitting for information or decision.
8. (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.
9. (academic writing) A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.
10. (academic writing) A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.
11. (computing) An object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself.
12. (programming, character entity) A special sequence used to represent complex characters in markup languages, such as ™ for the ™ symbol.
13. (obsolete) Appeal.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• sense
• handle

Verb

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

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

2. To refer to, to use as a reference.
3. To mention, to cite.
4. (programming) To contain the value that is a memory address of some value stored in memory.

Usage notes

Some authorities object to the use of reference as a verb with a meaning other than “provide a list of references for,” preferring refer to or cite in these cases. Others allow the meaning “refer to” but reject “mention.” Nevertheless, the proscribed usages are common in both writing and speech.

Related terms

• referee
• referent
• referential
• relate
• relation

Translations

References

Further reading

• reference in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• reference in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• reference at OneLook Dictionary Search