Identifying, ordering and defining senses

In a dictionary, however, senses are something distinctly different. They are basic units of entry organization: the most distinct component parts of the dictionary article. Piotrowski (1994: 21) defines a sense in lexicography as ‘one of the main divisions of the entry, usually marked typographically by consecutive letters or numbers’. Indeed, senses are often explicitly numbered in sequence, less commonly prefixed by letters, or punctuated in a typographically more subtle manner, such as by semicolons. Occasionally, special symbols are used to effect a visual separation of senses, such as a diamond ♦, centred dot •, triangle ►, or square ■.