 |
Explanatory
Notes for the Medical Dictionary Cross-Reference |
|
Explanatory
Notes for the Medical Dictionary Cross-Reference |
[Explanatory Notes Table of Contents] [Main Help Table of Contents]
CROSS-REFERENCE
Four different kinds of cross-references are used in this
dictionary: directional, synonymous, cognate, and inflectional.
In each instance the cross-reference is readily recognized by the
lightface small capitals in which it is printed.
A cross-reference usually following a lightface dash and beginning with see or compare is a directional cross-reference. It directs the dictionary user to look elsewhere for further information. A compare cross-reference is regularly appended to a definition; a see cross-reference may stand alone:
can.cer . . . noun 1 . . . --compare CARCINOMA, SARCOMA; NEOPLASM, TUMOR
iron . . . noun 1 . . . --symbol Fe; see ELEMENT table
mammary artery noun --see INTERNAL THORACIC ARTERY
A see cross-reference may be used to indicate the place of definition of an entry containing one or more Arabic numerals or abbreviated chemical prefixes that might cause doubt. Examples of chemical names are given at Order of Main Entries. The entry below follows the entry for the abbreviation GP:
G¹ phase, G² phase --see entries alphabetized as G ONE PHASE, G TWO PHASE
A see cross-reference may appear after the definition of the name of a generic drug to refer the reader to one or more trademarks used for preparations of the drug:
flu.ox.e.tine . . . noun . . . --see PROZAC
chlor.prom.a.zine . . . noun . . . see LARGACTIL, THORAZINE
A cross-reference immediately following a boldface colon is a synonymous cross-reference. It may stand alone as the only definitional matter, it may follow an analytical definition, or it may be one of two synonymous cross-references separated by a comma:
serum hepatitis noun : HEPATITIS B
sys.tem.a.tist . . . noun : a classifying scientist : TAXONOMIST
ad.i.po.sis . . . noun . . . 1 : ADIPOSITY, OBESITY
A synonymous cross-reference indicates that a definition at the entry cross-referred to can be substituted as a definition for the entry or the sense or subsense in which the cross-reference appears.
A cross-reference following an italic variant of is a cognate cross-reference:
anchylostomiasis variant of ANCYLOSTOMIASIS
manoeuvre chiefly British variant of MANEUVER
A cross-reference following an italic label that identifies an entry as an inflected form is an inflectional cross-reference. Inflectional cross-references appear only when the inflected form falls alphabetically at some distance from the main entry.
corpora plural of CORPUS
broke past of BREAK
When guidance seems needed as to which one of several homographs or which sense of a multisense word is being referred to, a superscript numeral may precede the cross-reference or a sense number may follow it or both:
ossa plural of ¹OS
lateral cuneiform bone : CUNEIFORM BONE 1c
[Top of Page] [Explanatory Notes Table of Contents] [Main Help Table of Contents]