“Metalingual definition” is the term David Hays gave to the linguistic structure and process whereby some term, called the definiendum, is defined by a string of words, the definiens, where the string of words typically takes the form of a story. Charity was his standard teaching example: Charity (the definiendum) is when someone does something nice for someone without thought of reward (the definiens). Any particular story that matches that pattern is an example of charity. In this conception, charity inheres in the entire story; more precisely, in the pattern exhibited by that story. Note however that ...
