[ad. med.L. connotātiōn-em, n. of action f. connotāre: so in Fr.]
1. The signifying in addition; inclusion of something in the meaning of a word besides what it primarily denotes; implication.
1532. More, Confut. Tindale, Wks. 417/1. This woorde congregacyon didde neuer signifie the noumber of christen people, as christen people, with a connotacyon or consideracion of theyr fayth or chrystendome.
a. 1617. Bayne, On Eph. (1643), 314. When the words of knowledge do together by connotation imply affection, much more do the words of beleefe.
1676. Norris, Coll. Misc. (1699), 298. That which formal sin adds over and above to material … is the Connotation of that special Dependence of it upon the Will.
1685. H. More, Paralip. Prophet., 404. The Lamb, which signifies the Person or Christ, though it may be with a Connotation of his Church, his Body.
1829. Jas. Mill, Hum. Mind (1878), I. ix. 313. If we could suppose qualis to have been used without any connotation of talis.
b. That which is implied in a word in addition to its essential or primary meaning.
1867. Lewes, Hist. Philos., II. 6. The very word heresy, which simply means private judgment, has in all times borne an opprobrious connotation.
1877. Athenæum, 21 July. That adjective [un-english] possesses a somewhat uncomplimentary connotation.
2. Logic. † a. With the earlier logicians: The subject ‘connoted’ by a term that signifies (or ‘notes’) an attribute or group of attributes Obs. b. With J. S. Mill and later logicians: The attribute or aggregate of attributes connoted by a term. (See CONNOTE v. 4.) Hence, c. In non-technical use: The sum of what a word implies or means; meaning.
1662. Stillingfl., Power Excommun., 14. But this Christian society doth not respect men under the connotation of men but as Christians.
1829. Jas. Mill, Hum. Mind (1869), I. ix. 299. I shall find much convenience in using the term notation to point out the sensation or sensations which are peculiarly marked by such words, the term connotation to point out the clusters which they mark along with this their principal meaning.
1846. J. S. Mill, Logic, I. v. § 2. Hobbes … bestowed little or no attention upon the connotation of words; and sought for their meaning exclusively in what they denote.
1865. Sat. Rev., 2 Sept., 295. Phrases to which no definite meaning, or, more technically speaking, no fixed connotation, is attached.
1875. Poste, Gaius, IV. (ed. 2), 644. An epithet sometimes detracts from, instead of adding to, the connotation of a word.
1876. Jevons, Elem. Logic, v. (1880), 39. The intension of a term is synonymous with its comprehension, or connotation, or depth.
1887. Fowler, Deductive Logic, v. 37. A definition is an exposition of the connotation of a term. Ibid., ii. 19.
† 3. (?) A mutual relation. Obs. Cf. CONNOTATE 2.
1677. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., I. vi. 123. By reason of the coexistence of one thing with another there ariseth a various relation or connotation between them.
† 4. Signification in combination, CONSIGNIFICATION. Cf. CONNOTE 3. Obs.
1786. H. Tooke, Purley (1798), I. 321. Concerning the word with, he would tell me … that it had no meaning of its own, but only a connotation or consignification.
