Word of the Week

reference (noun)

Meaning –the action of mentioning or alluding to something.

Example of using it in a sentence: "She made reference to the book in the lesson.”

Synonyms: mentioned, touched on, spoke about, wrote about, commented on

It can also mean: the use of a source of information in order to ascertain something.

Example of using it in a sentence: "a dictionary is a good source of reference for words and their meanings.”

When used as a verb it means to provide a book or article with a citation of sources of information or as a letter form a previous employer testifying to someone’s ability or reliability, used when applying for a new job.

Spelling Tip – those of you have been with us for a while will have spotted that this is a Latin word with the prefix ‘re’ meaning ‘again’ and the root meaning ‘to bear` or ‘to carry’. In other words, “to carry back something linked between the starting point and end point.” Just remember that It belongs to the ‘ence’ family not the ‘ance’ family.

re + fer + ence

Use the word as many times throughout the week as you can. This can be verbally, in your written work or listen out for other people using it.