Expression Quote by Willard Van Orman Quine

A definition is nothing else but an explication of the meaning of a word, by words whose meaning is already known. Hence it is…

— Thomas Reid

What should we gain by a definition, as it can only lead us to other undefined terms?

— Ludwig Wittgenstein

The word 'definition' has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, owing no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings.

— Willard Van Orman Quine

We want to do something and a definition is a means of doing it. If we want certain results then we must use certain…

— I. A. Richards

Definitions belong to the definer, not the defined.

— Toni Morrison

Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.

— Toni Morrison

What is a good definition? For the philosopher or the scientist, it is a definition which applies to all the objects to be defined,…

— Henri Poincare

A definition may be very exact, and yet go but a very little way towards informing us of the nature of the thing defined.

— Edmund Burke

To define a thing is to substitute the definition for the thing itself.

— Georges Braque

Definitions would be good things if we did not use words to make them.

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The freedom of expression cannot be defined selectively.

— Barkha Dutt

Definitions are temporary verbalizations of concepts, and concepts- particularly difficult concepts- are usually revised repeatedly as our knowledge and understanding grows.

— Ernst Mayr