cognitive (adj.)

A term sometimes used in SEMANTICS as part of a classification of types of MEANING. Cognitive meaning refers to those aspects of meaning which relate directly to DENOTATIONS of LEXICAL items and the PROPOSITIONAL content of SENTENCES, and thus corresponds to an intellectually objective level of interpretation, as opposed to one where emotional or subjective interpretation is involved. Alternative terms include DENOTATIVE and REFERENTIAL; opposite terms include EMOTIVE and CONNOTATIVE.