A LINGUISTIC GAME OF DEFINITIONS

OFTENTIMES definitions can limit you, imposing unnecessary constraints, enclosing things within the four corners of a narrow, arbitrary boundary that you set for yourself.

- SAAI SUDHARSAN SATHIYAMOORTHY

Other times, they provide no real meaning as the thing defined may not mean anything by itself.

Take the example of ‘Water!’. One might use it as a command to have someone else bring a glass of water, or as a proclamation at having found drinking water in the middle of a desert. Here, the word water, by itself, conveys no meaning apart from its usage.

Or for that matter, ‘Fire’. In isolation, it is a chemical reaction involving rapid oxidation that produces heat and light. But this technical definition tells us nothing about what the word actually does when used. Shouted inside a theatre, it would cause a severe panic.

Some definitions are agreements on the usage of terms or expressions, while others are about some essential attributes. While the former, known as nominal definitions, takes cues from predominant social conventions and vary depending on the social setting, the latter tells us about the terms’ real definitions or definitions de re, that is, about the way these terms are to be used and their essentialities.