reference / referents [ˈrɛf(ə)rəns]
reference – n. & v. – n. – 1. an act of asking an authority for arbitration; 2. in linguistics, the relation between an expression and what it denotes; 3. an allusion to someone or something; 4. citation for a source; 5. an authority or model for a given area; v. – 1. attribute, assign; 2. ascertain or express a position; 3. provide with sources for a given statement or position; 4. mention, refer to, cite
referents – n. pl. of referent – 1. words indicating relationships; 2. people who are consulted for specific reasons; 3. people or things alluded to or signified by given expressions; 4. in logic, terms associated with classes of other terms