dereference

D2E1R1E1F4E1R1E1N1C3E1
UK/dɪˈɹɛfɹəns/

verb

To access the value or object located in a memory location addressed by a pointer or another value interpreted as such; to access a value being referenced by something else.

“Attempting to dereference a null pointer often results in a crash.”

Similar
followresolve
OriginEnglish reference ← Latin dē- ← Proto-Italic *dē →
UncommonScrabble 17
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbdereference (third-person singular simple present dereferences, present participle dereferencing, simple past and past participle dereferenced)

present singular third person dereferences · participle present dereferencing · participle past dereferenced · past dereferenced

  1. computingTo access the value or object located in a memory location addressed by a pointer or another value interpreted as such; to access a value being referenced by something else.

    Attempting to dereference a null pointer often results in a crash.

  2. computingTo operate on the file or directory pointed to by a symbolic link, rather than on the link itself.

    With the find command, any symbolic links appearing after -follow will be dereferenced.

    Synonyms: follow, resolve

  3. computingTo dissolve a symbolic link by replacing it with a copy of its target.
noundereference (plural dereferences)

plural dereferences

  1. The act by which something is dereferenced.

    Either each dereference must use a complicated DCAS protocol, or each pointer must include a version number that is managed on each modification and checked on each dereference, or storage management must be tightly coupled […]

    1999, Michael Barry Greenwald, Non-blocking synchronization and system design, page 77

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo operate on the file or directory pointed to by a symbolic link, rather than on the link itself.

Similar
followresolve

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Englishde-
  7. Englishreference
  8. Englishdereference

From de- + reference.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish viitata, seurata
  • viitataaccess something to which a pointer or another value points
  • seurataaccess something to which a pointer or another value points
  • seurataoperate on the target of a symbolic link
French déréférencer, déréférencer
  • déréférenceraccess something to which a pointer or another value points
  • déréférenceroperate on the target of a symbolic link
German dereferenzieren
  • dereferenzierenaccess something to which a pointer or another value points
Portuguese desreferenciar
  • desreferenciaraccess something to which a pointer or another value points
Russian разыменовывать
  • разыменовывать (razymenovyvatʹ)access something to which a pointer or another value points
Spanish desreferenciar
  • desreferenciaraccess something to which a pointer or another value points
Swedish avreferera, avreferera
  • avrefereraaccess something to which a pointer or another value points
  • avrefereraoperate on the target of a symbolic link
Cite this entry
APA

dereference. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dereference

MLA

“dereference.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dereference. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dereference,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dereference.

Source: dereference on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.