Three Theories of Meaning

because all three examples make reference only to language.

The first is clearly the only model with any sense of verity on reality.

But I think the question we should be asking is what meaning is outside of an illusion in living beings.

4. Symbols, words and phrases obtain their meanings by referring to concepts.

Yes, but are these concepts not composed of language?

Verity on reality (using the humpty dumpty theory) would represent a principal that is truthful or relevant to reality. We can certainly stick with the proposed three, (I was unaware that it was regarding language as I simply clicked on the recent post link on the home menu)

Are you not certain on which theory holds correct?

No, for example, the concept of "above" is learned heuristically. You hear people use the word "above". You observe the context and results of the utterance and you abstract away from it meaning.

All your life you've heard things like, "the cookies are above the fridge", "the keys are hanging above the end table", "the sky is above the ground" and you've noticed the relationship between these things, the cookies and the fridge, the keys and the end table, the sky and the ground. You notice what they all have in common, their "aboveness" if you will. Eventually, all these different usages of "above" coalesce into a single concept.

Now, obviously you needed to know other words "cookie", "table", etc to get at the meaning of "above" but the meaning of "above" itself is not linguistic. It's comprised of all these different "above"s that you've filtered and processed into a single concept.

"Verity on reality" is an English phrase?.

think that a word means only what the person who used it intends it to mean? As Alice pointed out, that would imply that a word had an indefinite number of meanings. "How could a word mean so many things?".

, my interest is in linguistic meaning. I leave other kinds of meaning to those who know what those other kinds mean.

Have you even tried to figure out what those other kinds are?

1. "sign of" "Clouds mean rain."
2. "importance"."You mean more to me than anything in the world"
3. "intention" "Just what did you mean by smiling like that?"

There are a few more, think.

No, we are talking about meaning as in value and significance are we not?

1. When I use a term it means only what I want it to mean (mean by it) "neither more nor less".
(The Humpty-Dumpty theory).

2. Terms have essential meanings so that it is possible for everyone to use a term wrongly. (For instance, the essential meaning of "philosopher" is "lover of wisdom" so even if everyone thinks that A. J. Ayer was a philosopher, but if Ayer was not a lover of wisdom, then Ayer was not a philosopher. (The Platonic theory of meaning)

3. "Words are a wise man's counters, but they are the money of fools" Thomas Hobbes.

Words are wise men's counters, they do but reckon by them; but they are the money of fools, that value them by the authority of an Aristotle, a Cicero, or a Thomas, or any other doctor whatsoever, if but a man.

You are talking about definitions rather than meanings,

I am not. I began by talking about linguistic meaning.

I think number 1 is clearly fatuous. Number 2 sounds ok at first, but when you try to be strict you end up cutting out meaning, like when you insist on a literal translation of something into english.
Number 3 is better: