--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A definition is nothing else but an…" description: "\"A definition is nothing else but an explication of the meaning of a word, by words whose meaning is already known. Hence it is evident that every word ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/thomas-reid-22153_defined_a-definition-is-nothing-else-but-an-expl_1880675.jpg" --- # A definition is nothing else but an explication of the… ![“A definition is nothing else but an explication of the meaning of a word, by words whose meaning is already known. Hence it is evident that every word cannot be defined; for the definition must consist of words; and there could be no definition, if there were not words previously understood…” quote by Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/thomas-reid-22153_defined_a-definition-is-nothing-else-but-an-expl_1880675.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/thomas-reid-22153_defined_a-definition-is-nothing-else-but-an-expl_1880675.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/thomas-reid-22153_defined_a-definition-is-nothing-else-but-an-expl_1880675.jpg) > “A definition is nothing else but an explication of the meaning of a word, by words whose meaning is already known. Hence it is evident that every word cannot be defined; for the definition must consist of words; and there could be no definition, if there were not words previously understood without definition.” [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Definitions rely on already understood words, creating a circular problem that makes some terms indefinable. **In simple terms:** Words define words, so some words can’t be defined. Key Takeaway Accept limits of definability. Themes philosophy language logic Mood reflective critical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - teaching language - philosophical analysis - legal drafting - semantic research Key Concepts semantic theory epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What concepts resist definition? - How do we handle undefined terms? A Different Perspective Circular definitions can obscure meaning rather than clarify. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Your first book already defines you, while you are really far from being defined. 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If a sceptic avoid the fire as much as those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/the-want-of-faith-as-well-as-faith-itself-is-best-shewn-by-works-if-a/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [Every man feels that perception gives him an invincible belief of the existence of that which he perceives; and that this belief is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/every-man-feels-that-perception-gives-him-an-invincible-belief-of-the/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [We find sects and parties in most branches of science; and disputes which are carried on from age to age, without being brought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/we-find-sects-and-parties-in-most-branches-of-science-and-disputes/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [Every conjecture we can form with regard to the works of God has as little probability as the conjectures of a child with regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/every-conjecture-we-can-form-with-regard-to-the-works-of-god-has-as/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [When we contemplate the world of Epicurus, and conceive the universe to be a fortuitous jumble of atoms, there is nothing grand in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/when-we-contemplate-the-world-of-epicurus-and-conceive-the-universe/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [It is a question of fact, whether the influence of motives be fixed by laws of nature, so that they shall always have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/it-is-a-question-of-fact-whether-the-influence-of-motives-be-fixed-by/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [The rules of navigation never navigated a ship. The rules of architecture never built a house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/the-rules-of-navigation-never-navigated-a-ship-the-rules-of/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. To this chiefly it is owing that we find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/there-is-no-greater-impediment-to-the-advancement-of-knowledge-than/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [But when, in the first setting out, he takes it for granted without proof, that distinctions found in the structure of all languages, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/but-when-in-the-first-setting-out-he-takes-it-for-granted-without/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [For, until the wisdom of men bear some proportion to the wisdom of God, their attempts to find out the structure of his works,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/for-until-the-wisdom-of-men-bear-some-proportion-to-the-wisdom-of-god/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [For the perception of the beautiful we have the term "taste"--a metaphor taken from that which is passive in the body and transferred to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/for-the-perception-of-the-beautiful-we-have-the-term-taste-a-metaphor/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [And, if we have any evidence that the wisdom which formed the plan is in the man, we have the very same evidence, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/and-if-we-have-any-evidence-that-the-wisdom-which-formed-the-plan-is/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [must acknowledge, that to act properly is much more valuable than to think justly or reason acutely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/must-acknowledge-that-to-act-properly-is-much-more-valuable-than-to/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [I sit in my loft with the haves and look out at the have-nots - the bottom of the bottom - and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/i-sit-in-my-loft-with-the-haves-and-look-out-at-the-have-nots-the/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [ \[I\]f a man bred to the seafaring life, and accustomed to think and talk only of matters relating to navigation, enters into discourse upon… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/i-f-a-man-bred-to-the-seafaring-life-and-accustomed-to-think-and-talk/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) [Explore all 28 Thomas Reid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) ## More Defined quotes > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/jazz-is-not-something-that-can-be-defined-through-blunt-instruments/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [Among the many factors that make a return to halcyon days of the first decades of the postwar era virtually impossible is the decline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/among-the-many-factors-that-make-a-return-to-halcyon-days-of-the/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [One of the noblest words in our language is "grace," defined as "unearned blessing." We live by grace far more than by anything else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-elton-trueblood/one-of-the-noblest-words-in-our-language-is-grace-defined-as-unearned/) [D. Elton Trueblood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-elton-trueblood/) > [If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-it-comes-to-a-question-of-law-the-charges-they-brought-against-me/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [ The self is defined psychologically as the psychic totality of the individual. Anything that a \[person\] postulates as being a greater totality than \[oneself\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-self-is-defined-psychologically-as-the-psychic-totality-of-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Historically, usury was defined as any interest whatever on an unproductive loan.Our whole banking system I have ever abhorred, I continue to abhor, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/historically-usury-was-defined-as-any-interest-whatever-on-an/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Marriage and the creation of families has been an integral part of our society since its creation; it should not be defined without the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-foster-bennett/marriage-and-the-creation-of-families-has-been-an-integral-part-of/) [Robert Foster Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-foster-bennett/) > [Before it can be solved, a problem must be clearly defined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-feather/before-it-can-be-solved-a-problem-must-be-clearly-defined/) [William Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-feather/) > [My life had been defined by the apartheid years. Now we were going into an era of democracy... and I believed that I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athol-fugard/my-life-had-been-defined-by-the-apartheid-years-now-we-were-going/) [Athol Fugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athol-fugard/) > [If you think about basic science or coming up with new theories of mathematics, these are not the kinds of things which are necessarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-think-about-basic-science-or-coming-up-with-new-theories-of/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [Sometimes, I get afraid it has defined me, that sense of grief, loss and illness. But actually, it is about allowing myself to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-i-get-afraid-it-has-defined-me-that-sense-of-grief-loss-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [the most terribly human moments - the ones we want to pretend never happened - are the very moments that make us who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-lawson/the-most-terribly-human-moments-the-ones-we-want-to-pretend-never/) [Jenny Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-lawson/) > [“We don't have to be defined by the things we did or didn't do in our past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pittacus-lore/we-don-t-have-to-be-defined-by-the-things-we-did-or-didn-t-do-in-our/) [Pittacus Lore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pittacus-lore/) > [This strongly asserted but ill-defined license to kill without accountability is not an entitlement which the United States or other states can have without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-alston/this-strongly-asserted-but-ill-defined-license-to-kill-without/) Philip Alston Browse all 1,532 Defined quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A definition is nothing else but an explication of the meaning of a word, by words whose meaning is already known. 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