When I use a word . . . .Devising bioscience definitions

Abstract

When I use a word . . . .Devising bioscience definitions Lexicographers' jobs include crafting definitions of words, a task that is not as easy as many think it is. To do this, one can call on four methods, alone or more often in combination, based on etymology, usages, previous definitions, and the Ramsay-Lewis method, in which a term or group of terms appearing in a theory can be defined implicitly by the assertions of the theory itself. Terms that I have defined using some or all of these methods include adherence to medications; adverse drug reactions and related terms; artificial intelligence; bias; biomarkers; complex systematic reviews; drug shortages; medical devices; medication errors; me-too pharmaceutical products; nutraceuticals; pharmacological mechanisms; the Precautionary Principle; rapid reviews; research and translational research; rewardable innovation and innovativeness in drug therapy; signals in pharmacovigilance; surveillance of the effects of drug therapy; unlicensed and off-label uses of medicines. Some of these definitions have been adopted internationally.

Drug shortages. Part 1. Definitions and harms

“…Our approach to definition has been published previously 10 and used extensively. It has led to definitions that have been accepted internationally 11 . The method involves analysing how definienda, the terms to be defined, have been used in technical publications, analysing previous definitions for their important contents, choosing terms that have been repeatedly used by others, and the Ramsay–Lewis method, in which the meaning of a term is given implicitly by the relevant scientific theory, including all the assertions that it makes about the term.…”