Daniel Kies Department of English College of DuPage
Composition English 1101		Contact Form

Definitions

Current work:   Days remaining this term: Notes: Add Note |  Log in? | Privacy | Change Name & Email Mail this page to a friend

Formal definitions have a regular, consistent pattern that enables us to identify one and only one item from a larger set of related items. A formal definition consists of three parts:

1. the term to be defined,
2. the general class to which the term belongs, and
3. the defining particulars (the distinguishing characteristics) that separate this term from all other members of its class.

For example, a chair (the term) is a piece of furniture (general class to which chair belongs) for one person to sit on with back support (the defining particulars). It is not enough simply to say that a chair is a kind of furniture, since this definition fails to distinguish chairs from bookcases. It's too general without the necessary defining particulars. Similarly, it's not enough to say that a chair is a piece of furniture to sit on. This definition fails to distinguish chairs from sofas. Also, it's not enough to say that chairs are pieces of furniture for one person to sit on, since stools are too. We must mention all the relevant defining particulars, but no more, to define the chair as an object of furniture different from all other objects of furniture.

However, we don't want to add more defining particulars than we need either. Then we become too particular and rule out items that we would ordinarily think of as chairs. For example, we don't want to say that a chair is a piece of furniture for one person to sit on that has four legs, since some chairs have different configurations of legs or even use a pedestal and base structure to support the seat. What's more, some chairs (such as bean bags) have no legs at all, yet it is (in theory) a piece of furniture for one person to sit on with back support (though having sat in quite a few bean bags over the years I really doubt if they qualify as "furniture" or as having "seats" or as having "back support." But that's just me, I suppose.)

By the way, this pattern of definition works just as well for abstract concepts like heroism as it does for concrete concepts like chair. Study that example and you will see what I mean about term (heroism), class (conduct), and defining particulars (fulfilling a high purpose or attaining a noble end).

When writing a definition, therefore, remember the basics of a term, in a general class, with defining particulars, which separate this term from all other members of the class. However, that basic pattern alone may not be enough if one were asked to write a definition essay. To sustain the definition as a method of development for an entire essay (usually) requires more than a term, class, and defining particulars. In such cases, writers often employ one or more additional traits of a defintion to extend the readers' understanding of the term.

Common methods that writers use to extend a definition include:

• illustration (describe it)
• etymology (discuss its origins or source)
• history (detail its development and changes over time)
• analogy (compare it at length to something related or similar)
• antonymy (explain what this topic is not)
• analysis (explain its component parts)
• classification (discuss how it belong to a larger set)
• cause and effect (discuss the causes of this term and its effect on other items)

^Take Note! | Table of Contents | Syllabus | Course Calendar | eForum | Search

The HyperTextBooks | The English Main Page | The Composition Links