DEFINITION. 



149 



him, which, however, has not been esteemed one of the modes 

 of definition. 



In the case of connotative names, the meaning, as has been 

 so often observed, is the connotation ; and the definition of a 

 connotative name, is the proposition which declares its conno 

 tation. This might be done either directly or indirectly. The 

 direct mode would be by a proposition in this form : &quot; Man &quot; 

 (or whatsoever the word may be) &quot;is a name connoting such 

 and such attributes,&quot; or &quot; is a name which, when predicated of 

 anything, signifies the possession of such and such attributes 

 by that thing.&quot; Or thus : Man is everything which possesses 

 such and such attributes : Man is everything which possesses 

 corporeity, organization, life, rationality, and certain pecu 

 liarities of external form. 



This form of definition is the most precise and least equi 

 vocal of any ; but it is not brief enough, and is besides too 

 technical for common discourse. The more usual mode of 

 declaring the connotation of a name, is to predicate of it 

 another name or names of known signification, which connote 

 the same aggregation of attributes. This may be done either 

 by predicating of the name intended to be defined, another 

 connotative name exactly synonymous, as, &quot; Man is a human 

 being,&quot; which is not commonly accounted a definition at all ; 

 or by predicating two or more connotative names, which make 

 up among them the whole connotation of the name to be 

 defined. In this last case, again, we may either compose 

 our definition of as many connotative names as there are 

 attributes, each attribute being connoted by one, as, Man is 

 a corporeal, organized, animated, rational being, shaped so 

 and so ; or we may employ names which connote several of 

 the attributes at once, as, Man is a rational animal, shaped 

 so and so. 



The definition of a name, according to this view of it, is 

 the sum total of all the essential propositions which can be 

 framed with that name for their subject. All propositions 

 the truth of which is implied in the name, all those which we 

 are made aware of by merely hearing the name, are included 

 in the definition, if complete, and may be evolved from it 



