Connotation
Etymology
From Medieval Latin connotare, "to mark in addition," from con- ("together, with") + notare ("to note, mark"), itself from nota ("a mark, sign"). The literal image is of a meaning marked alongside the main one. Logicians used it for the attributes a term implies, and from there it broadened into the everyday sense of a word’s emotional coloring.
noun · /kon-uh-TAY-shun/
The web of feelings, associations, and overtones a word carries beyond its strict definition.
What it names
Why "thrifty," "frugal," and "cheap" can point at the same behavior yet land completely differently — the freight a word carries that a dictionary can barely capture.
Example
She chose "home" over "house" for the ad, trusting the warmer connotation to do the selling.
Related idea
Denotation is a word’s plain, literal referent; connotation is everything it drags along emotionally. "Snake" denotes a legless reptile but connotes treachery.