The meaning of REFERENCE is the act of referring or consulting. How to use reference in a sentence.

REFERENCE definition: 1. a mention of something: 2. a writer or a book, article, etc. that is mentioned in a piece of…. Learn more.

REFERENCE meaning: 1 : the act of mentioning something in speech or in writing the act of referring to something or someone; 2 : the act of looking at or in something for information

a direction of the attention, as in a book, to some other book, passage, etc.: [uncountable] You make reference to several authors in your paper. [countable] the use of references in a term …

A reference is someone you can rely on to put in a good word for you when applying for a job. Or, a reference might be an outside source you use in a research paper.