Question

If you and a friend are discussing the nuances of an abstract word such as white and she types in the word on dictionary only to find a myriad of different definitions, what type of meaning is she illustrating?
(A) naming
(B) denotative
(C) contextual symbols
(D) connotative

Answer 1

The correct answer is B. Denotative

Explanation:

In language, the meaning or meanings of a word that is part of the dictionary are known as the denotative meaning. These meanings are considered "universal" because they are shared by all the speakers of a language. Additionally, the denotation of a word is the opposite to its connotation or connotative meaning, because the connotation refers to the ideas, images, etc. people have about a word that are the result of personal experiences or cultural context. Considering this, in the case of you friend as she is looking for the meaning of the word "white" in the dictionary instead of the ideas people have about this word, she is illustrating the denotative meaning or the meaning that has been agreed about the word "white".