presentation
Pluralpresentations
- 1The act of presenting something, or the thing that is presented.
The chef took pride in the presentation of every plate.
Their presentation of the evidence shaped how the jury saw the case.
Similardisplay, arrangement, delivery, exposition, staging
Note
The broad meaning behind all the others comes from Latin praesentatio, "representation, exhibition," and is built in English as present plus -ation. It covers both the act and its result, so it can be counted (a presentation) or not (care over presentation). Richard Hooker could write in the 1590s that prayers are sometimes "a presentation of mere desires": something laid before another, which is still the core idea.
- 2
- 3
- 4A staged dramatic performance put on for an audience.
The troupe's presentation of the old tragedy drew a standing ovation.
Critics praised the bold presentation staged in the town square.
Similarproduction, staging, performance, show, rendition
- 5
- 6The way a person expresses their gender through appearance, dress, and behavior.
His androgynous presentation challenged the dress code at the office.
The character's shifting presentation became central to the story.
Similarexpression, appearance, look, style
Note
The short form comes mainly from LGBT usage, where the full phrase is gender presentation and its near-synonym is gender expression. It names the outward side of gender, such as dress, grooming and manner. It is kept separate from gender identity, which is inward, and from sex assigned at birth. Because the bare word has so many other meanings, writers usually add "gender" on first mention.
- 7The symptoms and other signs of disease or injury that a patient shows when seen by a physician.
Her presentation on arrival included fever, rash, and joint pain.
Medical students learn the classic presentation of appendicitis early on.
Similarpicture, manifestation
Note
Clinical shorthand describes how a case first looks, such as the slight fever, dilated pupils and disorientation a patient arrives with, all taken together. Doctors speak of a classic or typical presentation of a disease, and the matching verb is present with, as in a patient presents with chest pain. The word belongs to medical writing. Outside it, symptoms is the everyday word.
- 8The position of the fetus in the uterus at the time of birth.
An abnormal presentation led the obstetrician to recommend a cesarean.
The midwife confirmed a head-first presentation in the final weeks.
Similarposition
Note
Obstetrics uses the word for which part of the fetus leads at delivery. It is usually qualified by the position itself: head-first (cephalic), breech, or transverse, as in a breech presentation. Unlike the symptoms meaning, it says nothing about what a patient reports or shows. It describes only how the baby lies relative to the birth canal.
- 9The preparation of antigen fragments for immune recognition during the body's immune response.
Antigen presentation by dendritic cells activates the responding T cells.
A failure of presentation lets some pathogens evade detection.
Note
Immunologists almost always say antigen presentation, and the cells that perform it are called antigen-presenting cells. Protein antigens are broken into peptide fragments and displayed on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, where T lymphocytes can recognize them. The word keeps its old sense of showing something: the fragments are put on display for the immune system to inspect.
- 10Money given to a couple as a gift on their wedding.
The bride's family collected a sizable presentation from the relatives.
Each guest contributed to the couple's presentation rather than buying tableware.
Similargift
Less common meanings
- 11The specification of a mathematical group by means of generators and relators.
The group admits a finite presentation with three generators and one relator.
Two different presentations can describe the very same group.
Note
Group theory writes a presentation as ⟨generators | relators⟩. This is a list of generating elements together with the combinations of them that must reduce to the identity. A group with finitely many of each is called finitely presented. The description fixes the group only up to isomorphism, so very different-looking presentations can define the same group.
- 12In fencing, the act of offering one's blade for engagement by the opponent.
The fencer's presentation drew the expected parry, setting up the feint.
A well-timed presentation can lure an opponent into committing too early.
Note
A fencing move that looks like an opening is really meant as a lure. The fencer offers the blade to be engaged, expecting the opponent to take it, and then exploits that predictable reaction. The noun names the offer itself rather than an attack. Fencers also speak of presenting the blade.
- 13The act or right of offering a clergyman to the bishop for appointment to a church position.
The squire's presentation of the new rector was accepted by the bishop.
Disputes over the presentation to the living dragged on for years.
Similarnomination
Note
In English church law, the patron of a living holds the right to name its clergyman. William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769) sets out the order: "If the bishop admits the patron's presentation, the clerk so admitted is next to be instituted by him." Presentation is the patron's step, and institution is the bishop's. The two words are not interchangeable.
Practice
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Origin
This word comes from Old French presentation (modern French présentation), from Latin praesentātiōnem, the accusative of praesentātiō meaning "representation, exhibition." It can be analysed as present plus the suffix -ation.