reference

a remark that calls attention to something or someone

• “she made frequent mention of her promotion”
• “there was no mention of it”
• “the speaker made several references to his wife”

a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage

• “the student”
• “;”
• “;”

an indicator that orients you generally

• “it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved”

a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts

• “he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic”

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 to often answered evasively”

the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to

• “the extension of”
• “is the set containing only Demos and Phobos”

the act of referring or consulting

• “reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer”

a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to

• “he carried an armful of references back to his desk”
• “he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation”

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”

refer to

• “he referenced his colleagues”