English Explanatory Dictionary

sign

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A visible fact that shows that something exists or may happen.
  2. An omen.
  3. A property of the body that indicates a disease and, unlike a symptom, can be detected objectively by someone other than the patient.
  4. A mark or another symbol used to represent something.
  5. Physical evidence left by an animal.
  6. A clearly visible object, generally flat, bearing a short message in words or pictures.
  7. A wonder; miracle; prodigy.
  8. An astrological sign.
  9. Positive or negative polarity, as denoted by the + or - sign.
  10. 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.
  11. Sign language in general.
  12. 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).)
verb
  1. To make a mark
  2. To seal (a document etc.) with an identifying seal or symbol.
  3. To mark, to put or leave a mark on.
  4. To validate or ratify (a document) by writing one's signature on it.
  5. More generally, to write one's signature on (something) as a means of identification etc.
  6. To write (one's name) as a signature.
  7. To write one's signature.
  8. To finalise a contractual agreement to work for a given sports team, record label etc.
  9. To engage (a sports player, musician etc.) in a contract.
  10. To make the sign of the cross
  11. To bless (someone or something) with the sign of the cross; to mark with the sign of the cross.
  12. To cross oneself.

Pronunciation

sīn /saɪn/ En-us-sign.ogg En-au-sign.ogg

Word forms

sign signs signing signed no-table-tags glossary signest signedst signeth

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 and signal. Partially displaced native token.

Synonyms

indication evidence mark marking signal symbol token

Related words

signage signaletic signatory signal signature signet signify

Derived words

addition sign aftersign air sign Asboe-Hansen sign astrological sign at sign Babinski's sign bad sign barber's sign Battle's sign bear sign biosign Blumberg sign Boas' sign call sign callsign Chaddock's 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 dreamsign earth sign equal sign equals sign equality sign exit sign Faget sign fan sign fansign fat pad sign fire sign gang sign ghost sign give way sign Grisolle's sign halo sign Hamman's sign handicapped sign hang-loose sign hard sign Harvey Smith sign hash sign headsign hex sign high sign home sign hyalosign Indian sign infinity sign interpretation sign

Translations

Afrikaans: teken Aklanon: tanda' Albanian: shenjë Arabic: إِشَارَة Arabic: عَلَامَة Armenian: նշան Aromanian: semnu Assamese: চিন Avar: гӏаламат Azerbaijani: işarə Azerbaijani: nişan Azerbaijani: əlamət Bashkir: билдә Belarusian: прыкмета Belarusian: сведчанне Bengali: ইশারা Bengali: আলামত Bengali: সঙ্কেত Bhojpuri: निशान Bulgarian: признак Bulgarian: знак Burmese: သင်္ကေတ Catalan: senyal Cebuano: tima-ilhan Chinese Mandarin: 標誌 /标志 Chinese Mandarin: 跡象 /迹象 Chinese Mandarin: 符號 /符号 Czech: znamení Danish: tegn Dutch: teken Dutch: speciaal teken Esperanto: signo Esperanto: afiŝo Estonian: märk Even: хамун Evenki: самэлки Ewe: dzesi Finnish: merkki Finnish: oire French: signe French: indication French: symbole North Frisian: tiaken North Frisian: teeken North Frisian: tiiken (Karrharde) Saterland Frisian: Teeken West-Frisian: teken Friulian: mot Friulian: segn Galician: sinal Georgian: ნიშანი German: Zeichen German: Anzeichen German: Zäiche German: Sonderzeichen Gothic: 𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌺𐌽𐍃 Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍅𐌰 Greek: σημάδι Greek: σύμβολο Ancient Greek: σημεῖον Hebrew: סִימָן Hebrew: אוֹת Hebrew: סֵמֶל Hindi: निशान Hindi: संकेत Albanian: nënshkruaj Arabic: وَقَّعَ Arabic: أَمْضَى Arabic: مضى Armenian: ստորագրել Azerbaijani: qol çəkmək Azerbaijani: imza atmaq Azerbaijani: imzalamaq Basque: sinatu Belarusian: падпі́сваць Belarusian: падпіса́ць Bengali: দস্তখৎ করা Bulgarian: подпи́свам Bulgarian: подпи́ша Burmese: လက်မှတ် Catalan: signar Cebuano: pirma Chinese Cantonese: 簽署 /签署 Chinese Cantonese: 簽名 /签名 Chinese Mandarin: 簽署 /签署 Chinese Mandarin: 簽字 /签字 Czech: podepisovat Czech: podepsat Danish: underskrive Dutch: ondertekenen Esperanto: subskribi Estonian: alla kirjutama Estonian: signeerima Finnish: allekirjoittaa French: signer
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