REFERENCE

I. noun Date: 1589 the act of referring or consulting, a bearing on a matter ; relation , something that refers: as, allusion , mention , something (as a sign or indication) that refers a reader or consulter to another source of information (as a book or passage), consultation of sources of information, one referred to or consulted: as, a person to whom inquiries as to character or ability can be made, a statement of the qualifications of a person seeking employment or appointment given by someone familiar with the person, c. a source of information (as a book or passage) to which a reader or consulter is referred, a work (as a dictionary or encyclopedia) containing useful facts or information, denotation , meaning , II. adjective Date: 1856 used or usable for ~, III. transitive verb (-enced; -encing) Date: 1891 1. to supply with ~s, to cite in or as a ~, to put in a form (as a table) adapted to easy ~