Meaningsdenoting

Meaningsdenoting is a term encountered in some philosophical discussions of semantics to refer to the relationship between the semantic content of an expression (its meaning or sense) and its denotation—the object, set of objects, or truth-conditions that the expression picks out in a given context. The phrase is not universally standard, but it is used to emphasize how a term's meaning relates to what it denotes in actual use.

In traditional semantics, meaning (sense) and denotation (reference) are distinguished. Meaningsdenoting is often invoked to discuss how a single meaning can map onto different denotations across contexts, or how different meanings may target the same denotation. The concept is frequently brought into debates about how linguistic content varies with context, especially in relation to indexicals and context-dependent expressions.

Examples commonly cited include proper names and definite descriptions, where the same denotation can be picked out by expressions with different senses, and indexicals such as 'this here' or 'now' whose denotations shift with context. The notion also figures in discussions of extensional versus intensional contexts, where possible-world semantics helps explain how denotation varies with context while the underlying meaning remains constant.

Meaningsdenoting thus serves as a lens for examining the interface between linguistic content and reference, illustrating how language encodes both stable meanings and context-sensitive denotations. Related topics include sense and reference, intension and extension, and broader debates in the philosophy of language about how words connect to the world.