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The Role of Definitions in Biomedical Concept Representation Joshua Michael, José L. V. Mejino Jr., M.D., and Cornelius Rosse, M.D., D.Sc. Structural Informatics Group, Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, WA ABSTRACT The Foundational Model (FM) of anatomy, developed as an anatomical enhancement of UMLS, classifies anatomical entities in a structural context. Explicit definitions have played a critical role in the establishment of FM classes. Essential structural properties that distinguish a group of anatomical entities serve as the differentiae for defining classes. These, as well as other structural attributes, are introduced as template slots in Protégé, a frame-based knowledge acquisition system, and are inherited by descendants of the class. A set of desiderata has evolved during the instantiation of the FM for formulating definitions. We contend that 1. these desiderata generalize to non-anatomical domains and 2. satisfying them in constituent vocabularies of UMLS would enhance the quality of information retrievable through UMLS. INTRODUCTION Definitions are conventionally compiled in dictionaries. It has been advocated that definitions should also be incorporated in structured vocabularies, such as controlled medical terminologies (CMT).1-3 The authors of some CMTs have adopted the definitions of established medical dictionaries (e.g., MeSH4), whereas in other CMTs definitions are implied by the hierarchical arrangement of terms without further explicit specification. In the process of establishing the Foundational Model (FM) of anatomy5,6 we encountered conflicts between dictionary definitions of anatomical concepts and the requirements for a logical and consistent structuring of a symbolic model. We were forced, therefore, to write our own definitions. This process led to the formulation of a set of desiderata for defining anatomical concepts. These requirements evolved over time, based on the insights we gained from e