definition
 

 

Definition

An explanation or stipulation of how to use a word or phrase or of what something is, and is not.

 

It clarifies the way in which a word or phrase is being used in a given context and will often be the usage which people or the applicable specialist users of the term agree that the term should mean, but may also be a statement of the standard meaning of the word or phrase.

  

A good definition should be clearer and better understood than the word or phrase it defines.

 

Definitions should avoid circularity, for example, defining the word square simply as an equilateral rectangle may not be particularly helpful for anyone unfamiliar with the term, and especially if when one looks up equilateral rectangle one is given a definition of: a square shape. Negative definitions, in isolation, are generally of little use: such as a human being defined as something which is not a polar bear.

 

A definition should focus on the essential elements which characterize and distinguish this thing from other things, especially similar or related things, for example, defining a human being as a primate without a tail would be a confusing and inadequate definition in so much as the word primate refers to members of the large-brained, dextrous mammalian order which includes anthropoids: humans, apes, and monkeys; and prosimians: lemur, loris, and shrews. Definitions should not be too broadincluding things which are not what is being defined – or too narrowexcluding instances of the thing being defined.

 

Types of definitions include:

 

Definition by example:

provides typical examples of the word or phrase being defined.

Stipulative definition:

used to introduce and enunciate an unfamiliar or specialist (specialized) term or to assign some particular (non-standard) meaning to a familiar term.

Precising definition:

attempts to reduce vagueness and eliminate ambiguity as much as possible for the subject term.

Persuasive definition:

an opinion, prejudice, bias, or conclusion, etc., disguised as a definition, and put forward to surreptitiously influence the attitudes of the consumer of the argument, i.e., so that the conclusion will be accepted.

 

(see also: operational definition, language, judgement, decision, attitude, interpretation, evaluation, prediction, simile, express) 

 

 

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Labels: Definition, define, stipulative definition, definition by example, precising definition, persuasive definition
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