reference

noun

1
the act of referring or consulting
reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer
2
the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to
the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos
3
the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to
he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes
4
(computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored
5
a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts
he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic
6
a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability
requests for character references are all too often answered evasively
7
a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage
the student's essay failed to list several important citations
the acknowledgments are usually printed at the front of a book
8
a remark that calls attention to something or someone
she made frequent mention of her promotion
there was no mention of it
9
an indicator that orients you generally
it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved
10
a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to
he carried an armful of references back to his desk
he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation

Also useful for “reference”:Unscrambler— Rearrange the letters in “reference”