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Is there a name for the collection of all things that can be referenced in a language; a language's universe perhaps?

For example, the "universe" of English would contain most all things/concepts we humans encounter. The "universe" of a numeral system would contain all quantities.

Is there a proper name for this concept?

Novice F
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  • No, not really. Concepts or referents are not that simple to identify, and most categories and limits are imposed by humans, not reality. Where you see a leaf or a branch or a tree or a forest, someone else may see a piece of land or a future farm. – jlawler Feb 24 '14 at 00:09
  • What can be referenced by a language is probably without limit, as soon as it includes means to define new concepts. You may want a slightly different characterization of what you are after. What about the word "culture". – babou Feb 24 '14 at 00:50
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    In model-theoretic semantics, the 'universe' of entities is referred to as the "domain". This is probably the closest technical term to what you have in mind. – P Elliott Feb 24 '14 at 11:21

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