The emotional content or implication of a word, as opposed to the "denotation", or dictionary definition of the word. The distinction is often so fine as to be meaningless.

An example: "pooch", "dog", and "cur" all denote a domestic canine. However, the first sounds friendly and cute, the second neutral, and the third ugly or mean. These are connotations.

Con`no*ta"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. connotation.]

The act of connoting; a making known or designating something additional; implication of something more than is asserted.

 

© Webster 1913.

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