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Humanities LibreTexts

4.1.3: Activity- Connotation and Denotation

  • Page ID
    360615

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    Directions

    Consider the following words, and try to think of what their definitions are before you look them up.

    Words to Ponder Before You Look Them Up
    Pot Blue Vacillate
    Heart Red Oscillate
    Crevasse Magenta Adumbrate
    Answer

    Although you probably know what some of these words above mean, sometimes we only associate a certain feeling with a word, which Merriam-Webster describes in its page on connotation(opens in new window), that gets attached to the word's defined meanings, as detailed in the dictionary's page on denotations(opens in new window), over time.

    Now go ahead and click on the words to see what their denotations(opens in new window), or defined meanings, are.

    Words to Look Up
    Pot(opens in new window) Blue(opens in new window) Vacillate(opens in new window)
    Heart(opens in new window) Red(opens in new window) Oscillate(opens in new window)
    Crevasse(opens in new window) Magenta(opens in new window) Adumbrate (opens in new window)

    As you start to become a language sleuth yourself, you'll see interesting patterns about the English lexicon, such as the fact that linguistics scholars agree that you can cleave the language into separate categories to study and use them more elegantly and appropriately: think of our words as originating from mostly either Latinate or Germanic roots.

    Definition: Connotation

    The implied, "suggested," or associated meanings of any word ("Connotation"). Think of how heart means an organ in your chest, literally. However, sometimes your heart can be taken and broken, but this is when it is associated with the idea of love, a connotation of the word heart. In writing, we'd use the verb to connote: the word heart connotes love.

    Definition: Denotation

    The literal and direct meaning of any word. There can be multiple denotations of a single word just as with connotations. Consider how the word oscillate is defined to mean the act of going between two points: the fan oscillates to circulate air ubiquitously.

    Work Cited

    "Connotation, N. (1)." Merriam-Webster, 2022, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/connotation.