deixis.

Use of expressions whose reference depends on the speaker, place, time, or other context.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• spatial deixis
• personal deixis

On the page

The shift in deixis moved the reader into the witness’s present.

She clarified the deixis of ‘here’ before interpreting the message.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.