reference

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈɹɛf.ə.ɹɛns/ UK /ˈɹɛf.(ə.)ɹəns/ See IPA manual

Freq #5351

Meanings

1

noun
A mention of something or someone.

The article made several references to the latest research.
2

noun
A book or source you look at to find information.

I carried an armful of references back to my desk.
3

noun
A statement about someone's character or abilities, usually for a job.

Her former boss agreed to write her a reference.
4

verb
To mention or cite something as a source.

She referenced her colleagues' work in the report.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a book or source you look... sourcereference book

3 noun · a statement about someone's... character reference

4 verb · to mention or cite... cite

Word family

Forms referencedreferencesreferencing

Derived forms autoreferenceback-referencebackreferencecall-by-referencecoreferencecross-referencedereferencegeoreferencegeoreferencerinterreferencemetareferencemisreference

Related forms handle referee referent referential relate relation sense

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

reference book
a book used for consulting specific information rather than reading from cover to cover

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence.

*bʰer- Proto-Indo-European référence Middle French referentia la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# reference

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹɛf.ə.ɹɛns/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹɛf.(ə.)ɹəns/
**Frequency rank:** 5351

## Meanings
1. A mention of something or someone.
2. A book or source you look at to find information.
3. A statement about someone's character or abilities, usually for a job.
4. To mention or cite something as a source.

## Examples
- The article made several references to the latest research.
- I carried an armful of references back to my desk.
- Her former boss agreed to write her a reference.
- She referenced her colleagues' work in the report.

## Derived Forms
- autoreference
- back-reference
- backreference
- call-by-reference
- coreference
- cross-reference
- dereference
- georeference
- georeferencer
- interreference
- metareference
- misreference

## Related Forms
- handle
- referee
- referent
- referential
- relate
- relation
- sense

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰer-
- Root: référence
- Root: referentia

## Etymology
From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence.

## AI Etymology
Reference comes from Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence. Modern senses include a mention of something or someone. and a book or source you look at to find information.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as autoreference, back-reference, backreference, call-by-reference, coreference, and cross-reference and related forms such as handle, referee, referent, and referential.

## Topics
- People & Society

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