"by definition" meaning in English

See by definition in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} by definition, {{en-PP}} by definition
  1. According to, or as a matter of, definition. Synonyms: deep down, essentially, fundamentally Synonyms (as a matter of definition): basically
    Sense id: en-by_definition-en-prep_phrase-RPcvT-YU Disambiguation of 'as a matter of definition': 96 4
  2. Necessarily; always; certainly. Synonyms (necessarily): inevitably, inexorably, unavoidably
    Sense id: en-by_definition-en-prep_phrase-~h95nHhM Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Latin translations, Terms with Polish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 35 65 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 28 72 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 31 69 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 26 74 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 21 79 Disambiguation of Terms with Latin translations: 22 78 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 27 73 Disambiguation of 'necessarily': 0 100
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Translations (Translations): määritelmällisesti (Finnish), par définition (French), per definitionem (German), per definitionem (Latin), z definicji (Polish), z założenia (Polish)
Disambiguation of 'Translations': 100 0
{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "by definition",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "by definition",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This property holds for all polygons; and since, by definition, all triangles are polygons, it holds for all triangles.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "According to, or as a matter of, definition."
      ],
      "id": "en-by_definition-en-prep_phrase-RPcvT-YU",
      "links": [
        [
          "definition",
          "definition"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "sense": "as a matter of definition",
          "word": "basically"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "deep down"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "essentially"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "fundamentally"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 65",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 72",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 69",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "26 74",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Latin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 73",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Almost by definition, a conversation requires both parties to accept each other's viewpoints to some extent.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Necessarily; always; certainly."
      ],
      "id": "en-by_definition-en-prep_phrase-~h95nHhM",
      "links": [
        [
          "Necessarily",
          "necessarily"
        ],
        [
          "always",
          "always"
        ],
        [
          "certainly",
          "certainly"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "sense": "necessarily",
          "word": "inevitably"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "sense": "necessarily",
          "word": "inexorably"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "sense": "necessarily",
          "word": "unavoidably"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0",
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "määritelmällisesti"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0",
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "par définition"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0",
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "per definitionem"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0",
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "per definitionem"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0",
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "z definicji"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "100 0",
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "z założenia"
    }
  ],
  "word": "by definition"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Latin translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Translation table header lacks gloss"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "by definition",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "by definition",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This property holds for all polygons; and since, by definition, all triangles are polygons, it holds for all triangles.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "According to, or as a matter of, definition."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "definition",
          "definition"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Almost by definition, a conversation requires both parties to accept each other's viewpoints to some extent.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Necessarily; always; certainly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Necessarily",
          "necessarily"
        ],
        [
          "always",
          "always"
        ],
        [
          "certainly",
          "certainly"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "as a matter of definition",
      "word": "basically"
    },
    {
      "word": "deep down"
    },
    {
      "word": "essentially"
    },
    {
      "word": "fundamentally"
    },
    {
      "sense": "necessarily",
      "word": "inevitably"
    },
    {
      "sense": "necessarily",
      "word": "inexorably"
    },
    {
      "sense": "necessarily",
      "word": "unavoidably"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "määritelmällisesti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "par définition"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "per definitionem"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "per definitionem"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "z definicji"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "z założenia"
    }
  ],
  "word": "by definition"
}

Download raw JSONL data for by definition meaning in English (2.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (df33d17 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.