referent
noun
ref·er·ent ˈre-f(ə-)rənt 
: one that refers or is referred to
especially : the thing that a symbol (such as a word or sign) stands for
referent adjective
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web This presents certain challenges: when a sound cannot be described by its referent, language starts to falter. 
Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 27 June 2022 As the series builds, one suspicion is that the real referent of its title is to a rational mindset born of the Enlightenment buoyed by scientific progress which, until very recently was held to be the answer to everyone’s problems. John Hopewell, Variety, 27 June 2022 Atop the frame balance an apple and one of Crivelli’s mysterious green vegetables, which looks like an emoji for which the referent has been forgotten. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 9 June 2022 Nyerere even made the term Swahili a referent to Tanzanian citizenship. John M. Mugane, Quartz, 5 Apr. 2022 The other half is constructed with the memories, longing, referents, et cetera, of the readers’ lives. Kathleen Rooney, chicagotribune.com, 8 Oct. 2019 Even Robert De Niro is here, a direct referent to Scorsese-land, as Murray Franklin, the genially corrupt host of the late-night talk show that Arthur watches with his shut-in mother (Frances Conroy) and dreams of appearing on. BostonGlobe.com, 3 Oct. 2019 And there needs to be a clearer referent in the present. Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 4 June 2019 There are hundreds of millions of people who understand this tweet, and understood its referents on every other social platform in 2018. Kaitlyn Tiffany, Vox, 20 Dec. 2018 See More
Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 27 June 2022 As the series builds, one suspicion is that the real referent of its title is to a rational mindset born of the Enlightenment buoyed by scientific progress which, until very recently was held to be the answer to everyone’s problems. John Hopewell, Variety, 27 June 2022 Atop the frame balance an apple and one of Crivelli’s mysterious green vegetables, which looks like an emoji for which the referent has been forgotten. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 9 June 2022 Nyerere even made the term Swahili a referent to Tanzanian citizenship. John M. Mugane, Quartz, 5 Apr. 2022 The other half is constructed with the memories, longing, referents, et cetera, of the readers’ lives. Kathleen Rooney, chicagotribune.com, 8 Oct. 2019 Even Robert De Niro is here, a direct referent to Scorsese-land, as Murray Franklin, the genially corrupt host of the late-night talk show that Arthur watches with his shut-in mother (Frances Conroy) and dreams of appearing on. BostonGlobe.com, 3 Oct. 2019 And there needs to be a clearer referent in the present. Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 4 June 2019 There are hundreds of millions of people who understand this tweet, and understood its referents on every other social platform in 2018. Kaitlyn Tiffany, Vox, 20 Dec. 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
Latin referent-, referens, present participle of referre
First Known Use
1844, in the meaning defined above