Is there a word that is the inverse of "define"? Like taking a definition and giving the word?
For example. If you said "The action of propelling one self from a surface using leg muscles", and I said "Jump", I would have done this.
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3You would have identified the word "jump". But that's always supposing there is a word meeting the definition - a single correct one, at that, otherwise you could only suggest a possible answer. If I'd said "The action of propelling one self from a surface using arm muscles" you couldn't identify the word. You might guess "brachiate", but who's to say whether I would accept that as "the correct answer"? I'm not sure this is a constructive question.– FumbleFingersCommented Aug 25, 2012 at 0:34
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@FumbleFingers Your comments sounds like a fine answer.– Mark BeadlesCommented Aug 25, 2012 at 0:41
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1@Mark Beadles: I refrained from voting to close on the off-chance there's a word more specifically fitting OP's concept. I don't really approve of these "please identify the word matching my description" questions anyway. It's just turning ELU into a human-powered reverse dictionary– FumbleFingersCommented Aug 25, 2012 at 0:57
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3 Answers
Couldn't it just be as simple as the word name? You have named the thing being described.
To mention a word that agrees with a definition is (in my opinion) to particularize, specialize, manifest, embody, or incarnate (sense 4) that definition.
answered Aug 25, 2012 at 1:26
Breviloquentify? Cf. breviloquence.
eta: after MetaEd's feedback. Breviloquence is a rather obscure term for speaking in a brief and pertinent mode. I suggest breviloquentify as a possible verb form (to make breviloquent) but would advise against it unless you explain the word as you use it. In normal Englsih I would just use the phrase "the word for..."
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given that neither word is easily understood, could you perhaps add a definition? Commented Aug 25, 2012 at 10:42
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"A brief and pertinent mode of speaking." to summarize a few online dictionaries. From Latin with roots brevis + loquentia i.e brief and speaking.– WudangCommented Aug 25, 2012 at 11:35
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-1 OP wants the word for it, not the word for his prose after using the result of doing it.– MetaEdCommented Aug 25, 2012 at 15:28
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@ΜετάEd - perhaps you'd like to take a wild guess at what the "-ify" suffix does to a noun?– WudangCommented Aug 25, 2012 at 16:11
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Apologies. Ed is right that this is not a helpful answer in terms of this sites goals.– WudangCommented Aug 26, 2012 at 13:18