1. implied additional meaning: an additional sense or senses associated with or suggested by a word or phrase. Connotations are sometimes, but not always, fixed, and are often subjective. Patriotism can have some negative connotations for people.
2. suggesting of additional meaning for word: the implying or suggesting of an additional meaning for a word or phrase apart from the literal or main meaning
3. defining characteristic: in logic, the characteristic or set of characteristics that makes up the meaning of a term and thus defines the objects to which a term can be applied