If document A references document B, is there a term to describe A’s and B’s role? Maybe we could call B the referent? How about A?
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1Welcome to English Language & Usage. If you can, please edit your question to add some context where you want to use these words and what you found so far. See english.stackexchange.com/tags/single-word-requests/info.– WrzlprmftAug 5, 2016 at 11:22
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Related: english.stackexchange.com/q/81653/42179– ŘídícíAug 5, 2016 at 12:17
2 Answers
Using terminology from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-reference#Structure_of_a_cross_reference
I'd say :
A: referencing document (which contains references or cross-references)
B: referenced content (or item, section, etc.)
You're already mostly there with the wording of your question.
Document A is, simply, "the document". Document B is "the reference", or source.