• connotation •
Pronunciation: kah-nê-
tey-shên •
Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A connotation is not the exact meaning (= denotation) but a vague implication, semantic associations of a word or phrase. For example, the denotation of caviar is simply "sturgeon eggs" but it connotes wealth and indulgence.
Notes: This good word is the noun from the verb
to connote; the adjective is
connotative, as the connotative significance of a remark. An implication of a statement is a meaning directly and inevitably bound to it, as smoke implies fire. A connotation is a vaguer association, as wearing furs connotes wealth, even though the furs may have come from hard work and saving or working on a mink farm.
In Play: A word's connotation is more interesting than its denotation. The connotation of, "Dwight Mann accused Frances of being a
card-carrying member of the ACLU," is that Frances is a communist and the ACLU is a communist organization. That is because "card-carrying" is associated with the phrase "card-carrying communist", prominent in the witch hunt for communists during the McCarthy Era in the US. Even the verb
accused in the above sentence connotes that whatever Frances was doing is bad. Avoid guilt by connotation.
Word History: Today's Good Word derives from Medieval Latin connotare "to mark with" from con "with" + notare "to mark" (from nota "mark"). The root of
notare started out its life as Proto-Indo-European *gno- "know", which came down to English as
know. In some of its variants a vowel was inserted between the two consonants at the beginning of this root. One of these variants became English
cunning from Old English cunnan "to know how to". Now that you know more about
connotation, you can be more cunning in exploiting its semantic riches and avoiding its misuse.