What is the meaning of reference?

noun

• A remark that calls attention to something or someone.
  • usage: "she made frequent mention of her promotion"; "there was no mention of it"; "the speaker made several references to his wife"
  • synonyms: mention
• A short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage.
  • usage: "the student's essay failed to list several important citations"; "the acknowledgments are usually printed at the front of a book"; "the article includes mention of similar clinical cases"
  • synonyms: citation, cite, acknowledgment, credit, mention, quotation
• An indicator that orients you generally.
  • usage: "it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved"
  • synonyms: reference point, point of reference
• A book to which you can refer for authoritative facts.
  • usage: "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic"
  • synonyms: reference book, reference work, book of facts
• A formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability.
  • usage: "requests for character references are all too often answered evasively"
  • synonyms: character, character reference
• The most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to.
  • usage: "the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos"
  • synonyms: denotation, extension
• The act of referring or consulting.
  • usage: "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer"
  • synonyms: consultation
• A publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to.
  • usage: "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation"
  • synonyms: source
• Computer science. ( the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored)
  • synonyms: address, computer address
• The relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to.
  • usage: "he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes"

verb

• Refer to.
  • usage: "he referenced his colleagues' work"
  • synonyms: cite