Definitions
1.nounThe act of denoting, or something (such as a symbol) that denotes
2.nounThe primary, surface, literal, or explicit meaning of a signifier such as a word, phrase, or symbol; that which a word denotes, as contrasted with its connotation; the aggregate or set of objects of which a word may be predicated."The denotations of the two expressions "the morning star" and "the evening star" are the same (i.e. both expressions denote the planet Venus), but their connotations are different."
3.nounThe intension and extension of a word
4.nounSomething signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol
5.nounAny mathematical object which describes the meanings of expressions from the languages, formalized in the theory of denotational semantics
6.noun(media studies) A first level of analysis: what the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor.