What does "reference" mean?

Reference: That which refers to something; a specific direction of the attention; as, a reference in a text-book.

Additional senses

  1. 2.Relation; regard; respect. Something that hath a reference to my state. Shak.
  2. 3.One who, or that which, is referred to. Specifically; (a) One of whom inquires can be made as to the integrity, capacity, and the like, of another. (b) A work, or a passage in a work, to which one is referred.
  3. 4.(Law) (a) The act of submitting a matter in dispute to the judgment of one or more persons for decision. (b) (Equity) The process of sending any matter, for inquiry in a cause, to a master or other officer, in order that he may ascertain facts and report to the court.
  4. 5.Appeal. [R.] "Make your full reference." Shak. Reference Bible, a Bible in which brief explanations, and references to parallel passages, are printed in the margin of the text.

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