denotation

Noun

denotation (countable and uncountable, plural denotations)

1. The act of denoting, or something (such as a symbol) that denotes
2. The primary, surface, literal, or explicit meaning of a signifier such as a word, phrase, or symbol; that which a word denotes, as contrasted with its connotation; the aggregate or set of objects of which a word may be predicated.
   • The denotations of the two expressions "the morning star" and "the evening star" are the same (i.e. both expressions denote the planet Venus), but their connotations are different.
   • Regarding denotation, the terms were generally used to refer to a wide range of language contact varieties and features.2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 6
3. The intension and extension of a word
4. Something signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol
5. Any mathematical object which describes the meanings of expressions from the languages, formalized in the theory of denotational semantics
6. (media studies) A first level of analysis: what the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor.