reference
    n 1: a remark that calls attention to something or someone; "she
         made frequent mention of her promotion"; "there was no
         mention of it"; "the speaker made several references to his
         wife" [syn: mention, reference]
    2: a short note recognizing a source of information or of a
       quoted passage; "the student's essay failed to list several
       important citations"; "the acknowledgments are usually
       printed at the front of a book"; "the article includes
       mention of similar clinical cases" [syn: citation, cite,
       acknowledgment, credit, reference, mention,
       quotation]
    3: an indicator that orients you generally; "it is used as a
       reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy
       involved" [syn: reference point, point of reference,
       reference]
    4: a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he
       contributed articles to the basic reference work on that
       topic" [syn: reference book, reference, reference work,
       book of facts]
    5: a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential
       future employer describing the person's qualifications and
       dependability; "requests for character references are all too
       often answered evasively" [syn: character, reference,
       character reference]
    6: the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression;
       the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the
       extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only
       Demos and Phobos" [syn: reference, denotation,
       extension]
    7: the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an
       encyclopedia produced the answer" [syn: reference,
       consultation]
    8: a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is
       referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his
       desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that
       quotation" [syn: reference, source]
    9: (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of
       information is stored [syn: address, computer address,
       reference]
    10: the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea
        it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence of
        conditioned reflexes"
    v 1: refer to; "he referenced his colleagues' work" [syn:
         reference, cite]

Reference \Ref"er*ence\ (r?f"?r-ens), n. [See Refer.]
   1. The act of referring, or the state of being referred; as,
      reference to a chart for guidance.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. That which refers to something; a specific direction of
      the attention; as, a reference in a text-book.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Relation; regard; respect.
      [1913 Webster]

            Something that hath a reference to my state. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. One who, or that which, is referred to. Specifically;
      (a) One of whom inquires can be made as to the integrity,
          capacity, and the like, of another.
      (b) A work, or a passage in a work, to which one is
          referred.
          [1913 Webster]

   5. (Law)
      (a) The act of submitting a matter in dispute to the
          judgment of one or more persons for decision.
      (b) (Equity) The process of sending any matter, for
          inquiry in a cause, to a master or other officer, in
          order that he may ascertain facts and report to the
          court.
          [1913 Webster]

   6. Appeal. [R.] "Make your full reference." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   Reference Bible, a Bible in which brief explanations, and
      references to parallel passages, are printed in the margin
      of the text.
      [1913 Webster]

pointer
reference

   1.  An address, from the point of view of a
   programming language.  A pointer may be typed, with its type
   indicating the type of data to which it points.

   The terms "pointer" and "reference" are generally
   interchangeable although particular programming languages often
   differentiate these two in subtle ways.  For example, Perl
   always calls them references, never pointers.  Conversely, in
   C, "pointer" is used, although "a reference" is often used to
   denote the concept that a pointer implements.

   Anthony Hoare once said:

   Pointers are like jumps, leading wildly from one part of the
   data structure to another.  Their introduction into high-level
   languages has been a step backward from which we may never
   recover.

   [C.A.R.Hoare "Hints on Programming Language Design", 1973,
   Prentice-Hall collection of essays and papers by Tony Hoare].

   2.  (Or "mouse pointer") An icon, usually
   a small arrow, that moves on the screen in response to
   movement of a pointing device, typically a mouse.  The
   pointer shows the user which object on the screen will be
   selected etc. when a mouse button is clicked.

   (1999-07-07)

REFERENCE, practice. The act of sending any matter by a court of chancery or 
one exercising equitable powers, to a master or other officer, in order that 
he may ascertain facts and report to the court. By reference is also 
understood that part of an instrument of writing where it points to another 
for the matters therein contained. For the effect of such reference, see 1 
Pick. R. 27; 17 Mass. R. 443; 15 Pick. R. 66; 7 Halst. R. 25; 14 Wend. R. 
619; 10 Conn. R. 422; 4 Greenl. R. 14, 471; 3 Greenl. R. 393; 6 Pick. R. 
460; the thing referred to is also called a reference. 

REFERENCE, contracts. An agreement to submit to certain arbitrators, matters 
in dispute between two or more parties, for their decision, and judgment. 
The persons to whom such matters are referred are sometimes called referees. 

REFERENCE, mercantile law. A direction or request by a party who asks a 
credit to the person from whom he expects it, to call on some other person 
named in order to ascertain the character or mercantile standing of the 
former.