ABSTRACT
Wittgenstein’s conception of the meaning of a word is encapsulated by his dictum that the meaning of a word is its use in the language. 1 But there is an apparent tension between this conception and the undeniable fact that we understand the meaning of a word when we hear or say it. When I hear a word and understand what it means or when I utter the word with that meaning can the whole use of the word come before my mind? How could the use of the word in the language be condensed into something that might come before my mind in an instant? But then if it could not, how could I give that meaning to it or understand it in that sense at that very moment of time?
