definiens
English
Etymology
From Latin, substantive use of dēfīniēns (“[a] defining”), present active participle of dēfīniō (“I set bounds to”, “I define”).
Pronunciation
- (RP) enPR: dĭfĭʹnĭĕnz, dëfēʹniëns, dēfīʹnĭënz, IPA: /dɪˈfɪnɪɛnz/,[1]/deːˈfiːnieːns/, /diːˈfaɪnɪɛːnz/, X-SAMPA: /dI"fInIEnz/, /de:"fi:nie:ns/, /di:"faInIE:nz/
Noun
definiens (plural definientia)
- (semantics) The word or phrase that defines the definiendum in a definition.
- In the defining statement “A lake is a large, landlocked, naturally occurring stretch of water”, “large, landlocked, naturally occurring stretch of water” is the definiens.
Related terms
See also
Definition on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Definition
References
- definiens at OneLook Dictionary Search
- Notes:
- ^ “definiens” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]
Latin
Etymology
Present participle of dēfīniō
Participle
dēfīniēns m, f, and n (genitive dēfīnientis); third declension
Inflection
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case \ Gender | M.F. | N. | MM.FF. | NN. | |
| nominative | dēfīniēns | dēfīniēns | dēfīnientēs | dēfīnientia | |
| genitive | dēfīnientis | dēfīnientis | dēfīnientium | dēfīnientium | |
| dative | dēfīnientī | dēfīnientī | dēfīnientibus | dēfīnientibus | |
| accusative | dēfīnientem | dēfīniēns | dēfīnientēs | dēfīnientia | |
| ablative | dēfīniente1 | dēfīniente1 | dēfīnientibus | dēfīnientibus | |
| vocative | dēfīniēns | dēfīniēns | dēfīnientēs | dēfīnientia | |
1 But dēfīnientī when used purely as an adjective.