universe of discourse

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

universe of discourse
    n 1: everything stated or assumed in a given discussion [syn:
         {universe}, {universe of discourse}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Universe of discourse \U"ni*verse of dis"course\, n.
   everything which may be considered, explicitly or implicitly,
   in a particular theory or discussion.
   [PJC]

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

universe of discourse

   <ontology> In {ontology}, the set of all entities that can be
   represented in some {declarative language} or other {formal
   system}.

   Each entity is represented by a name and may have some
   human-readable description of its meaning.  Formal {axioms}
   constrain the interpretation and well-formed use of these
   names.

   (2005-07-29)

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