Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Reference \Ref"er*ence\ (r?f"?r-ens), n. [See {Refer}.]
   1. The act of referring, or the state of being referred; as,
      reference to a chart for quidance.

   2. That which refers to something; a specific direction of
      the attention; as, a reference in a text-book.

   3. Relation; regard; respect.

            Something that hath a reference to my state. --Shak.

   4. One who, or that which, is referred to. Specifically;
      (a) One of whom inquires can be made as to the integrity,
          capacity, and the like, of another.
      (b) A work, or a passage in a work, to which one is
          referred.

   5. (Law)
      (a) The act of submitting a matter in dispute to the
          judgment of one or more persons for decision.
      (b) (Equity) The process of sending any matter, for
          inquiry in a cause, to a master or other officer, in
          order that he may ascertain facts and report to the
          court.

   6. Appeal. [R.] ``Make your full reference.'' --Shak.

   {Reference Bible}, a Bible in which brief explanations, and
      references to parallel passages, are printed in the margin
      of the text.

Source : WordNet®

reference
     n 1: a remark that calls attention to something or someone; "she
          made frequent mention of her promotion"; "there was no
          mention of it"; "the speaker made several references to
          his wife" [syn: {mention}]
     2: a short note recognizing a source of information or of a
        quoted passage; "the student's essay failed to list
        several important citations"; "the acknowledgments are
        usually printed at the front of a book"; "the article
        includes mention of similar clinical cases" [syn: {citation},
         {acknowledgment}, {credit}, {mention}, {quotation}]
     3: an indicator that orients you generally; "it is used as a
        reference for comparing the heating and the electrical
        energy involved" [syn: {reference point}, {point of
        reference}]
     4: a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he
        contributed articles to the basic reference work on that
        topic" [syn: {reference book}, {reference work}, {book of
        facts}]
     5: a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential
        future employer describing the person's qualifications and
        dependability; "requests for character references are all
        to often answered evasively" [syn: {character}, {character
        reference}]
     6: the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression;
        the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the
        extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing
        only Demos and Phobos" [syn: {denotation}, {extension}]
     7: the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an
        encyclopedia produced the answer" [syn: {consultation}]
     8: a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is
        referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to
        his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that
        quotation" [syn: {source}]
     9: the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea
        it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence
        of conditioned reflexes"

reference
     v : refer to; "he referenced his colleagues' work" [syn: {cite}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

reference
     
        {pointer}