English Explanatory Dictionary

master signifier

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A signifier, i.e. a linguistic sign, with no determinate content beyond itself, serving as a nodal point dominating and grounding the content of a chain of other signifiers.

Word forms

master signifier master signifiers Master-Signifier

Etymology

Calque of French signifiant-maître as used by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan.

Synonyms

empty signifier floating signifier
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