referent B2 Topic:Communication US /ˈɹɛf(ə)ɹənt/ UK /ˈɹɛf(ə)ɹənt/ See IPA manual Freq #131115 Meanings 1 noun The thing in the world that a word or phrase refers to. In the sentence "the dog barked," the referent is the actual dog. Thesaurus Word family Forms referents Derived forms nonreferentreferentless Related forms antecedentcoreferentreferreferencereferentialreferralreferrer Etymology AI details From refer + -ent. *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Communication External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # referent **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈɹɛf(ə)ɹənt/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈɹɛf(ə)ɹənt/ **Frequency rank:** 131115 ## Meanings 1. The thing in the world that a word or phrase refers to. ## Examples - In the sentence "the dog barked," the referent is the actual dog. ## Derived Forms - nonreferent - referentless ## Related Forms - antecedent - coreferent - refer - reference - referential - referral - referrer ## Roots and Affixes - Root: *bʰer- ## Etymology From refer + -ent. ## AI Etymology Referent comes from refer + -ent. Modern senses include the thing in the world that a word or phrase refers to.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nonreferent and referentless and related forms such as antecedent, coreferent, refer, and reference. ## Topics - Communication markdown