# use-mention distinction

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. The distinction between the use of a word for its meaning (as in cheese is derived from milk) and the mention of a word as a lexical unit (as in cheese is derived from a word in Old English); an instance of this distinction.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/use-mention-distinction