The chapter begins with a reconstruction of Kant’s conception of the relationship between thought and language, which aims to highlight its novelty and distinctiveness, especially in relation to the Wolffian tradition, as well as its affinity with Herder’s view. The analysis then focuses on Kant’s conception of the relation between word and concept in order to show how Kant abandons the ‘auxiliary model’ in favor of an inextricable, essential relation between word and concept. He identifies the particular cognitive force of the word in its nonrepresentational, nondepictional character and its consequent extrinsic relation to the imagination. The issue of how the meaning of empirical concepts/words arises is then addressed. A crucial role is played by the theory of Merkmale (marks): they allow a transition from intuitive traits to the concept and grant the possibility of the original relation of mere designation between the word and its object. On this basis, the process of gradual acquisition of meaning then takes place. The latter yields the synthetic enrichment and correction of the concept. This process is guided by the general transcendental framework that make it possible to identify a phenomenon ‘x’ to be referred to by means of designation.