denoted; denoting; denotes
1
: to serve as an indication of : betoken
But as yet, no floating bough, no tern … to denote our proximity to land.—
Herman Melville
Herman Melville2
: to serve as an arbitrary mark for
red flares denoting danger
3
: to make known : announce
His crestfallen look denoted his distress.
4
a
: to serve as a linguistic expression of the notion of : mean
In the Southern U.S., the word "toboggan" denotes a stocking cap.
b
: to stand for : designate
the symbol / denotes "or," "and or," or "per"
An epiphany is, literally, a showing. In Christian terminology it denotes the showing of the infant Jesus to the three Magi.—David Lodge
David LodgeExamples of denote in a Sentence
The word “derby” can denote a horse race or a kind of hat.
Her death denoted the end of an era.
Recent Examples on the Web
The concept of high-fidelity sound reproduction has been around since the 1930s and denotes a sound system with no distortion or degradation in quality.
—Nathanael Gassett, Bon Appetit Magazine, 30 Apr. 2026
But in the 1980s, the music’s heyday, the phrase denoted an array of artists and tendencies while also conjuring something more atmospheric.
—Jack Hamilton, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
The new jet also features 13 stars denoting the 13 original colonies on its fuselage, the main body of an aircraft, and a circle of stars on each engine cowling, or covering, reflecting the original Betsy Ross flag and an America250 decal on the nose and winglet.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
The non-meat use of the term came from the online chat room community, which by the late 1980s was already using it to denote a mass influx of data into their chat rooms that could trigger a computer crash and/or annoy chat room users.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for denote
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Nathanael Gassett, Bon Appetit Magazine, 30 Apr. 2026
But in the 1980s, the music’s heyday, the phrase denoted an array of artists and tendencies while also conjuring something more atmospheric.
—Jack Hamilton, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
The new jet also features 13 stars denoting the 13 original colonies on its fuselage, the main body of an aircraft, and a circle of stars on each engine cowling, or covering, reflecting the original Betsy Ross flag and an America250 decal on the nose and winglet.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
The non-meat use of the term came from the online chat room community, which by the late 1980s was already using it to denote a mass influx of data into their chat rooms that could trigger a computer crash and/or annoy chat room users.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for denote
Cite this Entry
“Denote.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denote. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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