In linguistics, deixis (/ˈdaɪksɨs/) refers to words and phrases that cannot be fully understood without additional contextual information. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place. Words or phrases that require contextual information to convey any meaning – for example, English pronouns – are deictic. Deixis is closely related to anaphora, as will be further explained below. Although this article deals primarily with deixis in spoken language, the concept can apply to written language, gestures, and communication media...

In Greek mythology, the Keres /ˈkɪriːz/ (Κῆρες), singular Ker /ˈkɜr/ (Κήρ), were female death-spirits. The Keres were daughters of Nyx, and as such the sisters of the Fates – collectively known as the Moirai, the names of the three Moirai being Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis. Some later authorities, such as Cicero, called them by a Latin name, Tenebrae, or the Darknesses, and named them daughters of Erebus and Nyx. == Etymology == The Greek word Kir or Ker ( κήρ ), means goddess of death, or doom. Homer uses the word with this meaning κήρες θανάτοιο , "goddesses of death", or meaning "violent death...