Nødvendigt, tilstrækkeligt, typisk? – nogle tanker om definitionspraksis

Resumé

This paper deals with the general issue of writing good definitions,
taking a specific starting point in the principles formulated in the
style guide of The Danish Dictionary. After a brief historical survey
of definitional practice in selected Danish dictionaries, the paper
concentrates partly on the principles and problems of the classical
dictionary definition, partly on descriptions of the function and use
of words and phrases. Giving their personal view on good and bad
definitions based on ideas of prototypicality rather than exhaustiveness
and completeness, the authors end by raising the issue of different
definitions for different users, drawing on results from a user
survey of the online version of The Danish Dictionary.