nondefinitional

Nondefinitional is an adjective used to describe content, statements, or material that is not part of a definition or not aimed at defining a term or concept. It is often contrasted with definitional material, which specifies the essential properties, scope, or meaning of a term.

In dictionaries and encyclopedic writing, entries typically separate definitional content from nondefinitional material such as usage notes, etymology, cross-references, examples, or historical context. Descriptive information about how a term is used in practice or what it refers to in broad contexts is often labeled nondefinitional.

In formal logic and computer science, the term appears in discussions of definitional versus nondefinitional or propositional forms of equality. Definitional (or computational) equality is determined by the rules of the system, whereas nondefinitional equality requires proof or derivation within the theory.

In philosophy of language and linguistics, nondefinitional content may include knowledge or characteristics associated with a term that are informative but not part of its core definition, such as typical usage, connotations, or cultural associations.

The term's exact meaning is highly context dependent, and the label nondefinitional helps speakers and writers distinguish what is essential to a definition from supplementary information.