Editing Definition (section)

{{short description|Statement that attaches a meaning to a term}}
{{about||the definition of another word|wikt:Main Page{{!}}Wiktionary|other uses of the word "definition" itself}}
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[[File:Blacks-Law-Dictionary.jpg|thumb|A definition states the meaning of a word using other words. This is sometimes challenging. Common dictionaries contain lexical descriptive definitions, but there are various types of definition – all with different purposes and focuses.]]

A '''definition''' is a statement of the meaning of a term (a [[word]], [[phrase]], or other set of [[symbol]]s).<ref>Bickenbach, Jerome E., and Jacqueline M. Davies. [https://books.google.com/books?id=mAjMaRr9d5gC&q=definition Good reasons for better arguments: An introduction to the skills and values of critical thinking]. Broadview Press, 1996. p. 49</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/definition|title=Definition of definition {{!}} Dictionary.com|website=www.dictionary.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-28}}</ref> Definitions can be classified into two large categories: [[intensional definition]]s (which try to give the sense of a term), and [[extensional definition]]s (which try to list the objects that a term describes).<ref name=Lyons>Lyons, John. "Semantics, vol. I." Cambridge: Cambridge (1977). p.158 and on.</ref> Another important category of definitions is the class of [[ostensive definition]]s, which convey the meaning of a term by pointing out examples. A term may have many different senses and multiple meanings, and thus require multiple definitions.<ref>Dooly, Melinda. [https://books.google.com/books?id=C5TdV8LgtaQC Semantics and Pragmatics of English: Teaching English as a Foreign Language]. Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona, 2006. p.48 and on</ref>{{efn|Terms with the same pronunciation and spelling but unrelated meanings are called [[homonyms]], while terms with the same spelling and pronunciation and related meanings are  called [[polysemes]].}}

In [[mathematics]], a definition is used to give a precise meaning to a new term, by describing a condition which unambiguously qualifies what the mathematical term is and is not. Definitions and [[axioms]] form the basis on which all of modern mathematics is to be constructed.<ref>Richard J. Rossi (2011) Theorems, Corollaries, Lemmas, and Methods of Proof. John Wiley & Sons p.4</ref>