CHAPTER TWO: LANGUAGE, MEANING AND DEFINATION

INTENSION AND EXTENSION OF TERMS

Ordinary language serves various functions in our day to day lives. According to the 20 th c philosopher
Zudwing Wittgenstein, the numbers of these functions is virtually unlimited. Thus, among other things,
language is used to:

Ask questions Tell stories

Guess at answers Tell jokes
Sing song Give direction etc. Greet someone
For our purpose two linguistic functions are particularly important.

1. To convey information
2. To express or evoke feeling

Examples: The death penalty, which is legal in thirty six states, has been carried out most often in
Georgia. However, since 1977 Texas holds the record for the greatest number of executions.

The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman form of punishment in which hapless prisoners are dragged
from their cells and summarily slaughtered only to satiate the bloodlust of a vengeful public.

The first statement is intended primarily to convey information about the death penalty, while the
second is intended to persuade us that the death penalty is bad. The second accomplishes this function
by engaging our feelings, and so, as is an argument, by establishing the truth of a claim.

Terminology that conveys information is known as cognitive meaning and terminology that expresses
or evokes feeling is said to be emotive meaning. Thus, in the first statement the words “legal”, “thirty-
six”, “most often”, “Georgia”, “record” and “soon” have primarily a cognitive meaning, while in the
second statement the words “cruel”, “inhuman”, “hapless”, “dragged”, “slaughtered”, “bloodlust”, and
“vengeful” have a strong emotive meaning. Of course, these latter words have cognitive meaning as
well. “Cruel” means tending to hurt others, “inhuman” means inappropriate for humans, “hapless”
means unfortunate, and so on. Therefore the emotively charged statement about the death penalty
illustrates two important points.

 Statement of this sort usually has both cognitive and emotive meaning.
 Part of the cognitive meaning of such statements is a value claim.

A value claim is a claim that something is good, bad, right, wrong, or better, worse, more important or
less important than some other thing. For example, the statement about the death penalty asserts the
value claim that the death penalty is wrong or immoral. Such value claims are often the most important
part of the cognitive meaning of emotive statements. Value claims as such normally require evidence to
support them. For example, the claim that the death penalty is immoral cannot simply stand by itself. It
carries out reasons to support it.

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The cognitive/ informative discourse is used to describe and to reason about the world and to deny or
affirm the truth of propositions. Cognitive propositions can be evaluated as true or false; hence, they
can serve as premise or conclusion of an argument. This point indicates that cognitive function of
language is the only function of language, which is relevant and important for the science of logic.

Examples:

The churches of Lake Tana are rock hewn. (False)

All female mosquitoes are vectors of malaria. (True)
Ethiopia has prestigious airlines of its own. (True)

The above propositions deny or affirm the truth of these things and convey information about them.

Cognitive meaning can be defective. Two of them are vagueness and ambiguity. A linguistic
expression is said to be vague if there are borderline cases in which it is impossible to tell if the
expressions often allow for a continuous range of interpretations. For example, words such as “love,”
“happiness,” “peace,” “excessive,” “fresh,” “rich,” “poor,” “normal,” “conservative and “polluted” are
vague.

An expression is said to be ambiguous when it can be interpreted as having more than one clearly
distinct meaning in a given context. For example, words such as “light,” “right”, “proper,” “critical,”
“stress,” “mad,” “inflate,” “chest,” “bank,” “sound,” and “race” can be used ambiguously.

Example: If one were to describe a beer as a light pilsner, does this mean that the beer is light in color,
calories, or test?

If one were to describe an action as proper, does this mean proper in a moral sense or proper in the
sense of being socially acceptable? Or

If one were to describe a person as critical, does this mean that the person is essential for a certain task
or that the person tends to criticize others?

Both ambiguity and vagueness can affect entire statements. The difference between ambiguity and
vagueness is that vague terminology allows for a relatively continuous range of interpretations, whereas
ambiguous terminology allows for multiple discrete interpretations. In a vague expression there is a
blurred of meaning, where as in ambiguous expression there is a mix- up of otherwise a clear meaning.

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Intension and extension of terms

A term is any word or arrangement of words that may serve/used as the subject of a statement. Terms
consist of proper names, common names, and descriptive phrases. Examples:

Proper names common names descriptive phrases

Napoleon animal first president of the US
The US senate restitution author of Hamlet
House those who study hard
North Dekota activity books in my library
Person blue things, etc.

Words that are not terms include verbs, non substantive adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions and
prepositions. The following words or phrases are not terms; none can serve as the subject of a
statement. Dictatorial runs quickly above and beyond moreover

The cognitive meaning of terms comprises two kinds: intentional and extensional

The intentional meaning consists of the qualities or attributes that the term connotes. It is the collection
of properties or attributes either peculiar to an object or common to things by which class of things are
designated. The extensional meaning consists of the members of the class that the term denotes.

Example 1: what is water?

The intentional meaning is that water is a colorless, transparent liquid, compound of oxygen and
hydrogen and quench one’s thirst when it is drank. The extensional meaning is that a liquid substance
found in springs, rivers, lakes etc. or water means such as river water, spring water etc.

Example 2: what is cat?

The intentional meaning of the term “cat” consists of the attributes of being furry, of having four legs,
of moving in a certain way, of emitting certain sounds, and soon, while the extensional meaning
consists of cats themselves _ all the cats in the universe.

We encounter the problem of terms connoting different things to different people. To put it differently,
since words symbolize meanings to individual persons, it is inevitable for the notion of connotation to
be subjective. Thus, for instance, to a cat lover the term “cat” might connote the attributes of being
cuddly and adorable, while to someone who hates cats it might connote the attribute of being obnoxious
and disgusting. To avoid this problem, logicians restrict the meaning of connotation to what is called
conventional connotation. The conventional connotation of a term includes the attributes that the term
commonly calls forth/connotes in the mind of competent speakers of the language. Under this
interpretation, the connotation of a term remains more or less the same from person to person and from
time to time.

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The denotation of a term also remains typically the same from person to person, but it may change
radically with the passage of time. The terms “currently living dodo bird” and “current king of France”
for example, at one time denoted actually existing entities, but today all such entities have perished.
Accordingly, these terms have what is called empty extension. They are said to denote the empty
(null) class, a class without members. Terms with empty extension includes “Unicorn”, “Leperchaun”,
“gnome”, “elf”, and “griffin”. While these terms have an empty extension they do not have an empty
intension. Because these terms connote a variety of intelligible attributes.

The fact that some terms have empty extension leads us to an important connection between extension
and intension – namely, intention determines extension. The intentional meaning of a term serves as the
criterion for deciding what the extension consists of. For example, the intention of the word “cat”
serves as the criterion for determining what is and what is not a member of the class of cats is.
Because, we know the attributes connoted by the term “unicorn”, for example, we know that the term
has empty extension. That is, we know that there are no four-legged mammals having a single straight
horn projecting from their forehead. Thus, we conclude that for all terms, including proper names,
intension determines extension.

One kind of term that raises problems for the intention determines extension rule is proper nouns. For
example, the name” David” might not appear to have any intention, but it denotes the person who has
this name. One possible solution to this problem is that names are shorthand symbols for description or
bundles of descriptions. For example, “David” could be shorthand for “the person who lives next door”
or “the person who works at the corner store and who drives a green Clevy.” Another possible solution
to the problem of proper names is that the intension of proper names consists of the causal chain of
events leading from the point at which the name is first assigned to the point at which a certain person
learns about the name. Thus, the first link in such a chain might be the baptismal event at which the
name “David” is given to a certain third party is informed of the first event, and so on. Thus, we
conclude that for all terms, including proper names, intention determine extension.

Terms may be put in the order of increasing intension, decreasing intension, increasing extension,
decreasing extension. A series of terms is in the order of increasing intension when each term in the
series (except the first) connotes more attributes than the one preceding it. In other words, each term in
the series (except the first) is more specific than the one preceding it. Look at the following example:

Animal, mammal, feline, tiger.

A term is specific to the degree that it connotes more attributes/qualities. The order of decreasing
intension is the reverse of increasing intension. A series of terms is in the order of increasing
extension when each term in the series (except the first) denotes a class having more members than the
class denoted by the terms preceding it. In other words, the class size gets larger with each successive
term. And decreasing extension is the reverse of increasing extension. Example:

Tiger, feline, mammal, animal- is an example of increasing extension, but the reverse of this would
be decreasing extension.

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The order of increasing intension is usually the same as that of decreasing extension. Conversely, the
order of decreasing intension is usually the same as that of increasing extension. However, there are
some exceptions.

Example: Unicorn; Unicorn with blue eyes; Unicorn with blue eyes and green horn;
Unicorn with blue eyes, green horn, and a weight of over 400 pounds.

In this example, each term is the series has empty extension. So, while the series exhibits the order of
increasing intension, it does not exhibit the order of decreasing extension. Here is another example:

Living human being; living human being with a genetic code; living human being with a
genetic code and a brain; living human being with a genetic code, a brain, and a height of less
than100 feet.

In this series none of the terms has empty extension, but each term has exactly the same extension as
the others. Thus, while the intension increases with each successive term, the extension does not
increase.

Definitions and Their Purposes

Over the years, philosophers have held various conflicting views about the purpose of definition.
According to Plato, definitions were intended to explicate the meaning of certain eternal essences or
forms, such as justice, piety, and virtue. For most logicians today, definitions are intended exclusively
to explicate the meaning of words. In conformity with this position we may define definition as a group
of words that assigns a meaning to some word or group of words. Accordingly, every definition
consists of two parts: the definiendum and the definiens. The definiendum is a word or group of words
that is supposed to be defined and the definien is a word or groups of words that does the defining.
Example:

“Capital punishment” means the state sanctioned, vengeful murder of hapless prisoners.
“Tiger” means a large, striped, ferocious feline indigenous to the jungles of India and Asia.

In the first example, the word capital punishment is the definiendum, and everything after the word
“means” is the definiens; and in the second example, the word “tiger” is the defieniendum and
everything after the word “means” is the definiens. The definiens is not itself the meaning of the
definiendum; rather, it is a group of words that symbolizes (or that is supposed to symbolize) the same
meaning as the deifniendum.

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Types of definitions

There are about five types of definitions.

A. Stipulative Definitions

A stipulative definition assigns a meaning to a word for the first time. This may involve either coining a
new word or giving a new meaning to an old word. The purpose of stipulative definitions is usually to
replace a more complex expression with a simpler one.

Example: “Lottoholic” means someone who is obsessed with playing a lottery.

The need for a stipulative definition is often occasioned by some new phenomena or development.
Scientists and technologists often stipulate definitions when they make new discoveries or invent new
products. Moreover, stipulative definitions can be used to set up secret codes. For instance,

“Operation Desert Storm” was a code name given to the military invasion of Iraq, “Operation
Barbarosa” was the name the Germans give to the invasion of Russia, and “Operation Overlord” was
the name the allied forces gave to the planned invasion of Normandy.

Because a stipulative definition is a completely arbitrary assignment of a meaning to a word for the first
time, there can be no such thing as a “true” or “false” stipulative definition. Furthermore, for the same
reason, a stipulative definition cannot provide any new information about the subject matter of the
definiendum. So, stipulative definitions are subjective since the definition is one that you have
determined. One stipulative definition may, however, be more or less convenient or more or less
appropriate than another.

B. Lexical definition

Lexical definition is used to report the meaning that a word already has in language. In other words, the
purpose of lexical definition is to state the conventional, dictionary meaning of a word. In contrast with
stipulative definitions, a lexical definition may be true or false depending on whether it does or does
not report the way a word is actually used.

Because words are frequently used in more than one way, lexical definitions have the further purpose
of eliminating the ambiguity of words. What is the ambiguity? A word is ambiguous when it can be
interpreted as having two or more distinct meanings in a given context. In other words, a term is
ambiguous if it is susceptible to different interpretations in a given context. Many commonly used
words have two or more relatively precise meanings. When, in a given context, it is uncertain which of
these meanings is intended, ambiguity results. Some words that are subject to ambiguous usage are
“light”, “bank”, “sound”, “right” and “race”, “etc. Light can mean, among other things, light in weight
or radiant energy; bank can mean a financial institution or the slope bordering a river; and so on.

Since a lexical definition lists the various meanings that a word can have, a person who consults such a
definition is better prepared to avoid ambiguous construction of his own and to detect those of others.

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 C. Précising Definitions

Précising definition is intended to make a vague word more precise so that the word’s meaning is not
left to the interpretation of the reader or listener. What is vagueness? A word is vague if there are
border line cases such that it is impossible to tell whether the word applies to them or not. To put it
differently, a term is vague if its meaning is blurred so that one cannot tell with any degree of precision
whether it applies to a given situation. For example, words like “love”, ‘happiness’, “peace”,
“excessive”, “fresh”, “rich”, ‘poor”, etc. are vague. Once the vagueness has been reduced, one can
reach a decision as to the applicability of the word to a specific situation. For example, if legislation
were ever introduced to give direct financial assistance to the poor a precision definition would have to
be applied specifying exactly who the poor is and who is not.

“Poor” means having an annual income of less than $4,000 and a net worth of less than $20,000.

“Assault” means, for legal purposes, an intentional and unprivileged act resulting in the
apprehension of an immediate harmful or offensive contact.

A précising definition differs from a stipulative definition in that the latter involves a purely arbitrary
assignment of a meaning, where as the assignment of meaning in a précising definition is not at all
arbitrary.

D. Theoretical Definitions

Theoretical definition provides a theoretical picture or characterization of the entity or entities denoted
by the definiendum. In other words, it provides a way of viewing or conceiving these entities that
suggests deductive consequences, further investigation, (experimental or otherwise) and whatever else
would be entailed by the acceptance of a theory governing these entities. Example:

“Heat” means the energy associated with the random motion of molecules of a substance.

This definition does more than merely assign a meaning to a word; it provides a way of conceiving the
physical phenomena that is heat. In so doing, it suggests the deductive consequence that as the
molecules of a substance speed up the temperature of a substance increases. Other examples of
theoretical definitions are the definitions of “light” as a form of electromagnetic radiation and the
definition of “force”, “mass” and “acceleration” in Newton’s second law of motion as expressed in the
equation “F=MA”.

Not all theoretical definitions are associated with science. Many terms in philosophy, such as
“substance”, “form”, “cause”, “change” “idea”, “good”, “mind” and “God’, have been given theoretical
definitions. In fact most of the philosophers in history have given these terms their own peculiar
theoretical definitions, and this fact accounts in part for the unique character of their respective
philosophies.

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Like stipulative definitions, theoretical definitions are neither true nor false, because in some respects
they are subjective. For instance, John Staurt Mill’s definition of the “good” as the greatest happiness
for the greater number of people is subjective.

F. Persuasive Definitions

Here the arguer defines a term in an effort to persuade a reader or listener to agree with the arguer’s
point of view regarding the thing being defined. In other words, the purpose of persuasive definition is
to engender a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward what is denoted by the definiendum.

Persuasive definitions accomplish their purpose by assigning an emotionally charged or value laden
meaning to a word while making it appear that the word really has (or ought to have) the meaning in
the language. Here are some examples of opposing pairs of persuasive definitions:

“Abortion” means the ruthless murdering of an innocent human being.

“Abortion” means a safe and established surgical procedure where by a woman is relieved of an
unwanted burden.

“Taxation” means the procedure by means of which our commonwealth is preserved and sustained.

“Taxation” means the procedure used by bureaucrats to rip of the people who elected them.

The objective of a persuasive definition is to influence the attitudes of the reader or listener. Thus, such
definitions may be used with considerable effectiveness in political speeches and social topics. While
persuasive definitions may, like lexical definitions, be evaluated as either true or false, the primary
issue is neither true nor falsity but the effectiveness of such definitions as instruments of persuasion.

Definitional Techniques

In the last section we presented a survey of some kinds of definitions actually in use and the functions
they intended to serve. In this section we will investigate some of the techniques used to produce these
definitions. These techniques are classified in terms of the two kinds of definitions: intensional and
extensional.

Extensional (Denotative) definitions

An extensional definition is one that assigns a meaning to a term by indicating the members of the class
that the definiendum denotes. There are at least three ways of indicating members of a class: pointing
to them, naming them individually, and naming them in groups. Accordingly, there are three kinds of
definitions resulted from these techniques: demonstrative definition, enumerative definition, and
definition by subclass.

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A. Demonstrative (Ostensive) definitions

Demonstrative definitions are the most primitive form of definition. It simply involves pointing to or
demonstrating at the things being defined or the definiendum. Since demonstrative definitions are the
most primitive, they are also the most limited in use. Example

“Door” means this.

“Chair” means this and this and this as you point to a number of chairs one after the other.
“Washington Monument” means that – as you point to it.

Demonstrative definitions may be either partial or complete, depending up on whether all or only some
of the members of the class denoted by the definiendum are pointed to. These kinds of definitions are
important to teach foreigners your own native language, and neither of you understood a word of each
other’s language.

Demonstrative definitions are full of limitations. There is for instance, the obvious limitation that the
required objects are available for being pointed at. For example, if one wishes to define the word “sun”
and it happens to be night time or the word “dog” and none happens to be in the vicinity or around, a
demonstrative definition cannot be used. Demonstrative definitions differ from the other kinds of
definitions in that the definiens is constituted at least in part by gesture, the gesture of pointing.

B. Enumerative Definitions

Enumerative definition assigns a meaning to a term by naming the members of the class the term
denotes. Like demonstrative definitions they may also be partial or complete. Example:

“Planet” means one of the following: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus
or Pluto.

“Philosopher” means someone such as Aristotle, Descartes, or Socrates.

Complete enumerative definitions are more satisfying than partial ones because they identify the
definiendum with greater assurance. But, there are limitations in this respect. Many classes, for
example, the class of real numbers greater than 1 but less than 2, have an in finite number of members.
There are also others, the class of insects and the class of trees-the vast majority of whose members
have no members. For terms that denote these classes, either a demonstrative definition or definition by
subclass is the more appropriate choice.

C. Definition by Sub Class

It assigns a meaning to a term by naming subclasses of the class denoted by the term. Such a definition
may also be partial/incomplete or impartial/ complete, depending on whether the subclasses named,
when taken together, include all members of the class or only some of them. Example:

“Tree” means an oak, pine, elm, spruce, maple, and the like.
“Fictional work” means a poem, a play, a novel, or a short story.
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In this example, the first is partial and the second is complete.

Extensional definitions are chiefly used as techniques for producing lexical and stipulative definitions.
Lexical definitions are aimed at communicating how a word is actually used, and one of the ways of
doing so is by identifying the members of the class that the word denotes.

Stipulative definitions are used to assign a meaning to a word for the first time and this task may be
accomplished by all three kinds of extensional definitions. Although it is conceivable that extensional
definitions could also serve as techniques for theoretical and persuasive definitions (though this would
be highly unusual), extensional definitions by themselves cannot properly serve as précising definitions
by the following reasons. The function of précising definition is to clarify a vague word and vagueness
is a problem affecting intensional meaning. Because the intension is imprecise, and extension
indefinite.

Intensional (Connotative) Definitions

An intensional definition is one that assigns a meaning to a word by indicating the qualities or attributes
that the word connotes. Since there are at least four strategies to be used to indicate the attributes of the
word connotes, there are four kinds of intensional definitions: synonymous definition, etymological
definition, operational definition and definition by genus and difference

A. Synonymous Definition

A synonymous definition is one in which the definien is a single word that connotes the same attributes
as the definiendum. In other words, the definien is a synonym of the word being defined.

Examples: “Physician” means doctor.

“Observe” means see.
“Intentional” means willful.

A synonymous definition is a highly concise way of assigning a meaning when a single word can be
found that has the same intensional meaning as the word being defined. However, many words have
subtle shading of meaning that is not connoted by any other single word. For example, the word
“wisdom” is not exactly synonymous with either “knowledge”, “understanding” or “sense”;and
“envious” is not exactly synonymous with either “jealous” or “covetous.”

B. Etymological Definition

Etymological definition assigns a meaning to a word by disclosing the word’s ancestry in both its own
language and other languages. Most ordinary English words has ancestors either in old or middle
English or in some other languages such as Greek, Latin, or French, and the current English meaning
(as well as spelling and pronunciation) is often closely tied to the meaning ( and spelling and
pronunciation) of these ancestor words. For example, the English word “license” is derived from the
Latin verb ‘licere’, which means to be permitted, and the English word “captain” derives from the
Latin noun ‘caput’ which means head.

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Etymological definitions have special importance at least for two reasons. The first is that the
etymological definition of a word often conveys the words root meaning or seminal meaning from
which all other associated meanings are derived. Unless one is familiar with the root meaning, one
often fails to place other meanings in their proper or to grasp the meaning of the word when it is used in
its most proper place. For example, the word “principle” derives from the Latin word principium,
which means beginning or source. Accordingly, the “principles of physics” are those fundamental laws
that provide the “source” of the science of physics.

The second reason for the importance of etymological definition is that if one is familiar with the
etymology of one English word, one often has access to the meaning of an entire constellation of
related words. For example, the word “orthodox” derives from the two Greek words ortho, meaning
straight or right, and doxa meaning belief or opinion. From this one might grasp that “orthopedic”has
to do with straight bones, and that “orthodontic” has to do with straight teeth (oden in Greek mans
tooth).

C. Operational Definitions

Operational definitions assign a meaning to a word by specifying certain experimental procedures that
determine whether or not the word applies to a certain thing. Examples:

One substance is “harder than” another if and only if one scratches the other when the two
rubbed together.
A solution is an “acid” if and only if litmus paper turns red when dipped in to it.

Each of these definitions prescribes an operation to be performed. The first prescribes that the two
substances in question be rubbed together, and the second that the litmus paper be placed in the
solution and observed for color change. Unless it specifies such an operation, a definition cannot be an
operational definition.

D. Definition by Genus and Difference

Definition by genus and difference assigns a meaning to a term by identifying a genus term and one or
more difference words that, when combined, convey the meaning of the term being defined. To explain
how it works, we must first explain the meaning of the terms “genus”, species” and “specific
difference”.

In logic “genus” means a relatively larger class, and “species” means a relatively smaller subclass of
the genus. For example, we may speak of the genus animal and the species mammal, or the genus
mammal and the species feline, or the genus feline and the species tiger, etc. In other words, genus and
species are merely relative classifications.

The “specific difference” or “difference” is the attribute or attributes that distinguish the various
species with in genus. For example, the specific difference that distinguishes tigers from other species
in the genus feline would include the attributes of being large, striped, ferocious, and so on. Because
the specific difference is what distinguishes the species, when a genus is qualified by a specific
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difference, a species is identified. Definition by genus and difference consists of combining a term
denoting a genus with a word or groups of words connoting a specific difference so that the
combination identifies the meaning of the term denoting the species.

Let us construct a definition by genus and difference for the word “ice”. The first step is to identify
genus of which ice is the species. The required genus is water. The next step is to identify the specific
difference (attribute) that makes ice a special form of water. The required word is frozen. The
completed definition will be:

Species difference genus

“Daughter” means female offspring.
“Ice” means frozen water.
“Husband” means married man.
“Skyscraper” means very tall building

Definition by genus and difference is the most effective of intensional definitions for producing
stipulative, lexical, précising, theoretical and persuasive definitions. Lexical definitions are typically
definitions by genus and difference, but they also often include etymological definitions.

Operational definitions can serve as the method for constructing stipulative, lexical, précising and
persuasive definitions. Synonymous definition may be used to produce only lexical definition. Since, in
a synonym definition, the definiendum must have a meaning before a synonym can be found, the
technique cannot be used to produce stipulative definitions, and the fact that the definiens of such a
definition contains no more information than the definiendum prohibits its use in constructing
précising, theoretical and persuasive definitions.

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Criteria for Lexical Definitions

Because the functions of lexical definition is to report the way a word is actually used in language,
lexical definitions are the ones we most frequently encounter and are what most people mean when
they speak of the “definition” of a word. Accordingly, we have a set of rules that we may use in
constructing lexical definitions of our own and in evaluating the lexical definitions of others.

Rule 1 A lexical definition should conform to the standards of proper grammar

This means, a definition like any other forms of expression, should be grammatically correct.
Examples of definition that are grammatically incorrect are:

“Vacation” is when you do not have to go to work or to school.

“Furious” is if you are angry at some one.

The corrected versions are:

“Vacation” means a period during which activity is suspended from work or school.
“Furious” means a condition of being angry.

Rule 2: A lexical definition should convey the essential meaning of the word being defined

If we define the word “human” as featherless biped, such a definition fails to convey the essential
meaning of human as the word is used in ordinary English. Such definition says nothing about the
important attributes that distinguish humans from other animals, namely, the capacity to reason and to
use language on a sophisticated level. So a more adequate definition would be “human” means the
animal that has the capacity to reason and to speak.

Rule 3: A lexical definition should be neither too broad or to narrow

A definition is too broad if the definien includes too much, and a definition is too narrow if the
definiens include too little. If, forexample, “bird” were defined as any warm- blooded animal having
wings the definition would be too broad because it would include bats, and bats are not birds. If, on the
other hand, “bird” were defined as any warm-blooded, feathered animal that can fly, the definition
would be too narrow because it excludes ostriches, which cannot fly.

Rule 4: A lexical definition should not be circular

Sometimes the problem of circularity appears in connection with pairs of pairs of definitions.
The following pair is circular:

“Science” means the activity engaged by scientists.

“Scientists” means anyone who engages in science.
“Gambler” means someone who gambles.

Rule 5: A lexical definition should not be expressed in figurative

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A definition is figurative if it involves metaphor or tends to paint a picture instead of exposing the
essential meaning of a term. Example

“Camel” means a ship of the desert.

“Advertising” means legalized lying.
“Architecture” means frozen music.

Rule 6: A lexical definition should indicate the context to which the definiens pertains

This rule applies to any definition in which the context of the definiens is important to the definiendum.
for example, the definition “Deuce’ means a tie in points toward a game or in games toward a set” is
practically meaningless without any reference to tennis. Whenever the definiendum is a word that
means different thing in different contexts, a reference to the context is important. Example:

“Strike” means in base ball) a pitch at which a batter swings and misses.
“Strike” means (in bowling) the act of knocking down all the pins with the first ball of a frame.
“Strike” means (in fishing) a pull on a line made by a fish in taking the bait.

It is not always necessary to make explicit reference to the context, but at least the phraseology of the
definiens should indicate the context.

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