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The semiotic triangle (Figure 1) introduced by Ogden and Richards (1923/1989) is of central importance in terminology work. This triangle is a model of how symbols are related to the objects they represent. It consists of 3 elements: concept (“Thought or Reference”), designation (“Symbol”) and object (“Referent”). A concept is the mental image of concrete or abstract objects in reality and consists of characteristics based on properties observed in an object or in its relationship to other objects. Concepts are represented by a designation (symbol) such as words (in general language), terms (in specialized language) or other perceivable notations (e.g. graphics, numbers, etc.). In SNOMED CT the concepts are represented by so-called Descriptions (see Section 3.4).

Figure 1 – The semiotic triangle (Odgen and Richards 1923/1989)

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