| Ambiguity | Uncertainty of meaning that arises when a word or phrase has two or more clearly distinct meanings and the context does not make clear which meaning is intended, 107--109, 153; semantic and syntactical, 108
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| Amphiboly | A sentence that can be understood in more than one way because of faulty sentence structure, 108. See also Syntactical ambiguity
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| Circular definition | A definition that defines a word or phrase in terms of itself, 119
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| Connotation | Ideas, images, or feelings suggested by a word that may not be part of the word's literal meaning, 124-125
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| Definition by genus and difference | A definition that assigns a meaning to a word by identifying a class to which things named by the word belong and then noting how those things differ from other things in the class, 117--118, 120
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| Definition by subclass | A definition that assigns a meaning to a word by naming subclasses of the class that the word refers to, 115, 120
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| Denotation | The literal meaning of a word (as contrasted with any ideas or feelings that conventionally associated with a word but not part of the word's literal meaning), 124. In logic and philosophy of language, the object or objects referred to by a word
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| Emotive language | Words or phrases used primarily to express or evoke emotions, 122-129
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| Enumerative definition | A strategy for defining that seeks to clarify the meaning of a word by listing some or all of the individual things named by the word, 115, 120
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| Etymological definition | A strategy for defining that seeks to clarify the meaning of a word by noting facts about the history or ancestry of the word, 115--116
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| Euphemisms | Mild or evasive words that take the place of harsh or negative words, 134-137
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| Overgeneral statement | A statement that is excessively general (nonspecific) in a particular context, 106--107
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| Persuasive definition | A definition intended to create a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the thing defined, 113, 120
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| Precising definition | A definition intended to make a vague term more precise, 114, 120
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| Premises | Statements in an argument offered as reasons or evidence for a conclusion, 25, 50; evaluating, 99-101, 223-227; listing opposing, 422; listing supporting, 420-421
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| Semantic ambiguity | Ambiguity that results from uncertainty about the meaning of an individual word or phrase, rather than from faulty grammar or sentence structure, 108
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| Syntactical ambiguity | Ambiguity that results from faulty grammar or sentence structure, 108. See also Amphiboly
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| Vague language | Language that is fuzzy or inexact and hence gives rise to borderline cases in which it is difficult or impossible to tell whether the word or phrase applies to that thing or not, 105--106; in pseudoscience, 519--520
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| Verbal dispute | A dispute caused by disagreement over the meaning of a word, rather than by disagreement over a matter of fact, 109
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education