HKU SPACE Community College Lecture 12: Definitions / DO

English for Academic Purposes II

______________________________________________________________________________________________

You will often be required to describe certain terms, events or situations. In the process of description, at times we
need to define what these terms, events or situations mean so that our message is perfectly clear to the reader.

Simple Definitions

If we look in a dictionary for the word weed, we may find:

A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with

cultivated plants.

However, this definition may be insufficient. Consider:

Taxonomically, the term "weed" is not botanically significant, as a

plant that is a weed in one context is not a weed when grown in a
desirable situation.

There are many ways to define, but it is important that your definition be acceptable to the academic community.

1. Join the sentences on the left (below) with the correct ones from those on the right to create a simple definition
with a defining relative clause.

e.g. Aluminium is a metal. It is produced from bauxite.

Aluminium is a metal which is produced from bauxite.

a. It produces electricity.

b. It measures color in any application.

1. An engineer is a person
c. It makes distant objects appear nearer and larger.
2. A microscope is an instrument
d. She designs machines, buildings or public works.
3. A generator is a machine
e. He studies plants.
4. A botanist is a person
f. It makes very small near objects appear larger.

g. It has four equal sides and four right angles.

Academic Definitions

Academic definitions should be used when:

• your work contains a term that may be unfamiliar to audience understanding;

“Faculae are bright patches that are visible on the Sun's surface”
• a commonly used word or phrase may have a number of interpretations;
“Throughout this essay, the term classic gaming will refer specifically to playing
video games produced for the Atari, the original Nintendo Entertainment System”
• the etymology (origin and history) of a common word might prove interesting.
“A placebo, borrowed from Latin placēbō (“I will please”), is a term used to describe…”

1
Academic subjects need to be more cautiously defined. Note the following examples:

Economics may be defined as the study of how a society organizes its money, trade and industry.

Marketing may be defined as the activity of presenting, advertising and selling a product.

2. Write out definitions of the following subjects in the same way:

i. Sociology – branch of science – studies – nature and growth – society and social behaviour.

ii. Theology – study – beliefs and theories – religion.

iii. Information technology – study or use – electronic equipment for storing + analyzing + sending out
information.

3. Now write a definition of a subject you are currently studying. Tell others in your group.

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Extended Definitions
It is possible for terms to be defined more specifically by providing more information.
Consider the following example:

Econometrics may be defined as the branch of economics which applies mathematical and statistical
techniques to economic problems. It’s concerned with testing the validity of economic theories and
providing the means of making quantitative predictions.

4. Now go back to the definition you wrote (above) and extend it, adding information to make it more detailed.

2
Language Summary

A. Frequently used verbs for definitions

is…
X means…
describes…
is/may be defined as…
is used…

B. Useful verbs

is concerned with…
X deals with… Y
relates to…
involves… “I can’t chat tonight—I have the legal definition
of a headache.”

C. General meanings or application of meanings

• The term X refers to…

• The term X encompasses A), B), and C).
• X can be defined as… It encompasses…
• X can be loosely described as a correlation.
• The term X has come to be used to refer to…
• The term X is generally understood to mean…
• The term X has been applied to situations where scientists…

D. Specifying terms used in an essay or thesis

• The term X will be used solely when referring to…

• In the present report, X was therefore defined in terms of…
• In this essay, the term X will be used in its broadest sense to refer to all…
• In this paper, the term that will be used to describe this phenomenon is X.
• In this dissertation, the terms X and Y are used interchangeably to mean…
• Throughout this thesis, the term education is used to refer to informal systems as well as…
• While a variety of definitions of the term X have been suggested, this paper will use the definition first
suggested by Wong (2007) who saw it as…

E. Referring to people’s definitions: author prominent

• For Smith (2013), transparency means/refers to…

• Portenza (2013) uses the term ‘fluency’ to refer to…
• Krashen (1971) was apparently the first to use the term “the input hypothesis”…
• The term ‘procrastination’ is used by Grant (2017) to refer to…
• Macro-stabilisation policy is defined by Enmore (2003) as ‘… …’
• This definition is close to those of Murakami (2012) and Newman (2018) who define X as…
• In 1987, sports psychologist Hansen popularized the term ‘X’ to describe…
• According to a definition provided by McMaster (2001), velocity is ‘the maximally…

3
 Name _______________________
Time for Fun!

You are about to play a game in groups of 4-5. The object of the game is to produce a “definition” of an unfamiliar
word that sounds so good, that when read out among other possible definitions, your group mates will select it as the
“correct” definition. It doesn’t have to be correct, it just has to sound correct!

Complete these steps:

STEP 1: Nominate a group leader who is a fairly confident English user. Their role is to facilitate the game.

STEP 2: Without the use of a dictionary, the remaining group members spend 10 minutes completing the
definitions for each word in the list (below). Remember—you need to write something that sounds
so good, it will FOOL YOUR GROUP MEMBERS into thinking YOUR DEFINITION is the right
one.

STEP 3: When you have completed the definitions for each of the words in the list (spend about 10 minutes
on this), write your name on this page and pass your entire handout to your group leader.

STEP 4: Your group leader will read out the definitions written by each group member. They will also read
out a dictionary definition.

STEP 5: Group members take turns to guess which one is the dictionary definition.

Work alone, and do not talk to your group members. Hide your work from your group-mates! Remember, your
definitions don’t have to be correct; they should sound correct! Be creative, and have fun.

Scoring
Receive 1 point each time your definition is chosen by another group member. (Your group leader will let you know
who the winner is at the end of the game.)
Group leaders should now approach their lecturers for pronunciation practice and to receive further
instructions.

1. convivial (adj.) A convivial person is someone who _______________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

2. inveterate (adj.) Inveterate may be used to describe a habit which ____________________

___________________________________________________________________.

3. equanimity (n.) Equanimity refers to a state of___________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

4. scion (n.) A scion is____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

5. monkey’s wedding (n.) A “monkey’s wedding” is a term used to describe ___________________________

___________________________________________________________________.