definiendum
noun/dɪˌfɪniˈɛndəm/
Etymology Borrowed from Latin dēfīniendum, gerund of dēfīniō.
1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences, Semantics The term (word or phrase) defined in a definition (whether inside a sentence, as a dictionary entry, or otherwise).
- However, most advocates of the importance of real definition have limited the definiendum to certain kinds of things: usually an abstract entity or a concept.1991, William Thomas Parry, Edward A. Hacker, Aristotelian Logic, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 84:
- The objects themselves are the definienda of the definition. The first set of properties through which the definienda are collected together to form a group is called ‘the limiting properties of being the definienda of the definition’.2013, Edward Craig, editor, Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge, →ISBN, page 198:
- Related terms
- definition, definiens