sign
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sīn
ipa: /saɪn/
homophone: sine
homophone: syne
rhymes: -aɪn
Forms: form: signs
Etymology: From Middle English signe, sygne, syng, seine, sine, syne, from Old English seġn (“sign; mark; token”) and Old French signe, seing (“sign; mark; signature”); both from Latin signum (“a mark; sign; token”); root uncertain. Doublet of signum. Partially displaced native token.
Senses: examples: text: Their angry expressions were a clear sign they didn't want to talk.
text: Those clouds show signs of raining soon.
text: Those clouds show little sign of raining soon.
text: Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
text: No, I don't know why you're not fair / I give you my love, but you don't care / So what is right and what is wrong? / Gimme a sign
ref: 1993 January 18, Dee Dee Halligan, Junior Torello, “What Is Love”, in The Album, performed by Haddaway:
synonyms: indication
evidence
glosses: A visible fact that shows that something exists or may happen.
examples: text: "It's a sign of the end of the world," the doom prophet said.
synonyms: indication
evidence
glosses: A visible fact that shows that something exists or may happen.
An omen.
examples: text: Signs of disease are objective, whereas symptoms are subjective.
topics: medicine
sciences
synonyms: indication
evidence
glosses: A visible fact that shows that something exists or may happen.
A property of the body that indicates a disease and, unlike a symptom, can be detected objectively by someone other than the patient.
examples: text: The sharp sign indicates that the pitch of the note is raised a half step.
text: I gave them a thumbs-up sign.
text: The sound of the Orlando dinner train whistle reminds me that it ' s already Friday, an auditory sign. Another auditory sign, a distant thunder clap, warns me of limited computer time before our evening thunderstorm moves in.
ref: 2000, Geoffrey McGuinness, Carmen McGuinness, How to Increase Your Child's Verbal Intelligence: The Language Wise Method, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 38:
synonyms: mark
marking
signal
symbol
glosses: A mark or another symbol used to represent something.
examples: text: The hunters found deer sign at the end of the trail.
text: Animal sign is the key to eliminating guesswork when setting your traps. Only trap where there is sign. Sign is anything the animal leaves as a trace that indicates it may have passed through the area.
ref: 2015, Dave Canterbury, Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival, page 127:
glosses: Physical evidence left by an animal.
examples: text: The sign in the window advertised a room for rent.
text: I missed the sign at the corner so I took the wrong turn.
text: The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets.
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
glosses: A clearly visible object, generally flat, bearing a short message in words or pictures.
examples: text: And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 4:17:
glosses: A wonder; miracle; prodigy.
examples: text: Your sign is Taurus? That's no surprise.
topics: astrology
human-sciences
mysticism
philosophy
sciences
glosses: An astrological sign.
examples: text: I got the magnitude right, but the sign was wrong.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: Positive or negative polarity, as denoted by the + or - sign.
examples: text: And why not, as well as our dumbe men dispute, argue and tell histories by signes?
ref: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
text: In American Sign Language (ASL), for instance, the sign for 'catch' is formed with one hand (in the role of agent) moving across the body (an action) to grasp the forefinger of the other hand (the patient).
ref: 2007, Marcel Danesi, The Quest for Meaning:
glosses: A specific gesture or motion used to communicate by those with speaking or hearing difficulties; now specifically, a linguistic unit in sign language equivalent to word in spoken languages.
examples: text: Sorry, I don't know sign very well.
glosses: Sign language in general.
examples: text: A Noun substantive and a Noun adjective may be thus distinguished, that a substantive may have the sign a or the before it; as, puer, a boy, the boy; but an adjective cannot, as, bonus, good.
ref: 1692, Thomas Bennet, Short Introduction of Grammar ... of the Latine Tongue:
text: A Pronoun is a Noun implying a Person, but not admitting the Sign a or the before it.
ref: 1753, Charles Davies, Busby's English Introduction to the Latin Tongue Examined, page 11:
text: And some linguistic signs, like “the”, “and” or “with”, may lack apparent objects, though they are clearly meaningful and interpretable.
ref: 2008, Eero Tarasti, Robert S. Hatten, A Sounding of Signs: Modalities and Moments in Music, Culture, and Philosophy : Essays in Honor of Eero Tarasti on His 60th Anniversary:
glosses: A semantic unit, something that conveys meaning or information (e.g. a word of written language); (linguistics, semiotics) a unit consisting of a signifier and a signified concept. (See sign (semiotics).)
examples: text: The great Ensign of Messiah blaz'd Aloft by Angels born, his Sign in Heav'n.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: A military emblem carried on a banner or standard.
Derived terms: addition sign
air sign
Asboe-Hansen sign
astrological sign
at sign
bad sign
barber's sign
bear sign
Blumberg sign
Boas' sign
call sign
Chilaiditi sign
Chilaiditi's sign
Chvostek sign
cuckoo sign
currency sign
cut for sign
day sign
Deuel's halo sign
devil sign
direction sign
division sign
dollar sign
doll's eye sign
earth sign
equal sign
equals sign
equality sign
exit sign
Faget sign
fan sign
fat pad sign
fire sign
gang sign
ghost sign
give way sign
halo sign
Hamman's sign
handicapped sign
hang-loose sign
hard sign
Harvey Smith sign
hash sign
hex sign
high sign
home sign
Indian sign
infinity sign
interpretation sign
interp sign
kitchen sign
Koplik's sign
Lazarus sign
Leser-Trélat sign
Lhermitte sign
Lhermitte's sign
loser sign
matchbox sign
minus-plus sign
minus sign
monument sign
Mount Fuji sign
multiplication sign
Murphy's sign
namesign
nationality sign
neon sign
Nikolsky's sign
not equal sign
null sign
number sign
numero sign
OK sign
paragraph sign
peace sign
percent sign
plus-minus sign
plus sign
pound sign
Pratt's sign
projecting sign
pylon sign
Risser sign
road sign
Romana's sign
Russell's sign
sail sign
Schamroth's sign
seat belt sign
section sign
shilling sign
signary
sign bit
sign function
sign language
sign manual
sign name
sign of contradiction
sign of life
sign of the horns
sign of the times
sign of the zodiac
sign ruler
sign spinner
sign twirler
sign-value notation
sign waver
snowman sign
soft sign
star sign
stop-go sign
stop sign
street sign
take sign
times sign
Tinel's sign
tourist-oriented destination sign
traffic sign
Trousseau's sign
Uhthoff's sign
victory sign
vital sign
vowel sign
V sign
wall sign
warning sign
Wartenberg's sign
water sign
Wellens' sign
Westermark sign
Winterbottom's sign
yield sign
zodiac sign
Related terms: signage
signal
signaletic
signatory
signature
signet