What is the term for a variable that references an instance of a class?

In Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), an object is an instance of a class. A variable that stores or references an instance of a class is called an object.

Example:

class Student
{
};

Student s1;

Here:

• Student is a class

• s1 is an object of the class Student

The variable s1 references an instance of the class.

Therefore, the correct term is Object.