definitoria

Definitoria is a term that appears in selective linguistic and philosophical discussions to denote the set of expressions and clauses that perform the definitional function within discourse. The word is built from roots meaning “to define,” and it is used in some scholarly works to distinguish definitional signals from the content of the definition itself. There is no single, universally accepted definition, and definitoria does not appear in standard reference dictionaries.

In typical definitional analysis, a term has a definiendum (the term being defined) and a definiens (the content that defines it). Definitoria, in this usage, would encompass the linguistic devices that introduce or delimit the definiens, such as i.e., that is to say, namely, for example, or explicit definitional clauses. They include introductory phrases like “by definition” or “in other words” that frame the ensuing explanation and guide the reader to the intended scope of the term.

Usage and status: The notion of definitoria is mainly found in theoretical discussions about how definitions are presented and how readers parse them. It is not widely adopted in everyday lexicography or in most philosophy of language literature; many scholars treat definitional markers as ordinary components of definitional syntax rather than as a distinct category. The term may appear in niche papers or in debates about linguistic definability and discourse analysis.

See also: definiendum, definiens, definitional phrase, definitional marker.