Deixis

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdaɪksɪs/

Origin

From Ancient Greek δεῖξις (deixis, "pointing,” “indicating,” “reference"), from δείκνυμι (deiknumi, "I show").

Full definition of deixis

Noun

1. (linguistics) A reference within a sentence that relies on the context being known to interpret correctly.The use of pronouns relies on a deixis to correctly interpret them.

Synonyms

• indexicality

Hypernyms

• exophora

Antonyms

• (with regards to type of information needed to understand a reference): homophora

Related terms

• deictic
• deictically
• deictical

Anagrams

• dixies