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Glite Dictionary
co-referent

co-referent

9.9
Referring to the same person or thing in a text
  • adjective
  • /ˌkoʊrɪˈfɜːrənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : co-referente
  • In the sentence 'The president said he would resign,' 'the president' and 'he' are co-referent expressions.

Examples

  • It is important to determine if two pronouns are co-referent in discourse analysis.

  • Linguists study the conditions under which noun phrases become co-referent.

  • Can you identify the co-referent in that sentence?

  • In linguistics, a co-referent expression helps clarify meaning.

  • In the sentence 'The dog chased the cat, and it ran away,' 'the dog' and 'it' are co-referent expressions.

  • When analyzing text, identifying co-referent phrases can help improve clarity in communication.

  • In the phrase 'Sarah lost her keys, and she couldn't find them,' 'Sarah' and 'she' are co-referent terms.

Synonyms

coreferent
vsco-referent
  • Specialized
9.9

Describing words that refer to the same person or thing

is the same meaning but written with a hyphenated form
coreferential
vsco-referent
  • Specialized
9.5

More than one word or phrase in a text that refer to the same thing

is the same idea but used more broadly outside technical linguistic contexts

Surface Forms

co-referent positive

Morphology

co-referent = referent (transparent) = co + referent

The prefix 'co-' meaning 'together/with' combines directly with 'referent' ('the thing referred to') to yield 'referring to the same thing', a clear, compositional meaning.

Etymology

Co-referent comes from co- meaning 'together' and referent meaning 'the thing pointed to', from refer 'to point to'. So two words or phrases are co-referent when they 'point to' the same person or thing.