CONNOTATION, in logic, a term (largely due to J. S. Mill) sometimes equivalent to intension, which is used to describe the sum of the qualities regarded as belonging to any given thing, or, more usually, class of things, and suggested by the name by which it is known; thus the term "elephant" connotes the hav ing a trunk, a certain shape of body, texture of skin, and so on. It is clear that as scientific knowledge advances the connotation or intension of terms increases, and, therefore, that the connota tion of the same term may vary considerably according to the knowledge of the person who uses it. Again, if a limiting adjec tive is added to a noun (e.g., African elephant), the connotation obviously increases. More usually the term connotation is now used for the conventionally fixed implication of a term, and is practically equivalent to definition. In all argument it is essen tial that the speakers should be in agreement as to the connota tion of the words they use. General terms such as "socialism," "slavery," "liberty," and technical terms in philosophy and the ology are frequently the cause of controversies which would not arise if the disputants were agreed as to the connotation of the terms. In addition connotative terms, as those which denote things and imply attributes, are opposed to non-connotative, which merely denote things, without implying attributes, or (in the case of abstract terms) which designate or name attributes, relation ships, etc., instead of merely implying them, and which do not denote things.
See J. S. Mill System of Logic, 1874, etc.; J. N. Keynes, Formal Logic, 1906; H. W. B. Joseph Introduction to Logic (1916) ; A. Wolf Essentials of Logic, 1926, also articles EXTENSION, MEANING.