'Sign' definitions:

Definition of 'sign'

From: WordNet
adjective
Used of the language of the deaf [syn: gestural, sign(a), signed, sign-language(a)]
noun
A perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened); "he showed signs of strain"; "they welcomed the signs of spring" [syn: sign, mark]
noun
A public display of a message; "he posted signs in all the shop windows"
noun
Any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message; "signals from the boat suddenly stopped" [syn: signal, signaling, sign]
noun
Structure displaying a board on which advertisements can be posted; "the highway was lined with signboards" [syn: signboard, sign]
noun
(astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided [syn: sign of the zodiac, star sign, sign, mansion, house, planetary house]
noun
(medicine) any objective evidence of the presence of a disorder or disease; "there were no signs of asphyxiation"
noun
Having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges); "he got the polarity of the battery reversed"; "charges of opposite sign" [syn: polarity, sign]
noun
An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come; "he hoped it was an augury"; "it was a sign from God" [syn: augury, sign, foretoken, preindication]
noun
A gesture that is part of a sign language
noun
A fundamental linguistic unit linking a signifier to that which is signified; "The bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary"--de Saussure
noun
A character indicating a relation between quantities; "don't forget the minus sign"
verb
Mark with one's signature; write one's name (on); "She signed the letter and sent it off"; "Please sign here" [syn: sign, subscribe]
verb
Approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation; "All parties ratified the peace treaty"; "Have you signed your contract yet?" [syn: sign, ratify]
verb
Be engaged by a written agreement; "He signed to play the casino on Dec. 18"; "The soprano signed to sing the new opera"
verb
Engage by written agreement; "They signed two new pitchers for the next season" [syn: sign, contract, sign on, sign up]
verb
Communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs; "He signed his disapproval with a dismissive hand gesture"; "The diner signaled the waiters to bring the menu" [syn: sign, signal, signalize, signalise]
verb
Place signs, as along a road; "sign an intersection"; "This road has been signed"
verb
Communicate in sign language; "I don't know how to sign, so I could not communicate with my deaf cousin"
verb
Make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate [syn: bless, sign]

Definition of 'Sign'

From: GCIDE
  • Sign \Sign\, n. [F. signe, L. signum; cf. AS. segen, segn, a sign, standard, banner, also fr. L. signum. Cf. Ensign, Resign, Seal a stamp, Signal, Signet.] That by which anything is made known or represented; that which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof. Specifically: (a) A remarkable event, considered by the ancients as indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen. (b) An event considered by the Jews as indicating the divine will, or as manifesting an interposition of the divine power for some special end; a miracle; a wonder. [1913 Webster]
  • Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. --Rom. xv. 19. [1913 Webster]
  • It shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. --Ex. iv. 8. [1913 Webster] (c) Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument. [1913 Webster]
  • What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. --Num. xxvi. 10. [1913 Webster] (d) Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture. [1913 Webster]
  • The holy symbols, or signs, are not barely significative; but what they represent is as certainly delivered to us as the symbols themselves. --Brerewood. [1913 Webster]
  • Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] (e) A word or a character regarded as the outward manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of ideas. (f) A motion, an action, or a gesture by which a thought is expressed, or a command or a wish made known. [1913 Webster]
  • They made signs to his father, how he would have him called. --Luke i. 62. [1913 Webster] (g) Hence, one of the gestures of pantomime, or of a language of a signs such as those used by the North American Indians, or those used by the deaf and dumb. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Educaters of the deaf distinguish between natural signs, which serve for communicating ideas, and methodical, or systematic, signs, adapted for the dictation, or the rendering, of written language, word by word; and thus the signs are to be distinguished from the manual alphabet, by which words are spelled on the fingers. [1913 Webster] (h) A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard. --Milton. (i) A lettered board, or other conspicuous notice, placed upon or before a building, room, shop, or office to advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm carrying it on; a publicly displayed token or notice. [1913 Webster]
  • The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] (j) (Astron.) The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The signs are reckoned from the point of intersection of the ecliptic and equator at the vernal equinox, and are named, respectively, Aries ([Aries]), Taurus ([Taurus]), Gemini (II), Cancer ([Cancer]), Leo ([Leo]), Virgo ([Virgo]), Libra ([Libra]), Scorpio ([Scorpio]), Sagittarius ([Sagittarius]), {Capricornus ([Capricorn]), Aquarius ([Aquarius]), Pisces ([Pisces]). These names were originally the names of the constellations occupying severally the divisions of the zodiac, by which they are still retained; but, in consequence of the procession of the equinoxes, the signs have, in process of time, become separated about 30 degrees from these constellations, and each of the latter now lies in the sign next in advance, or to the east of the one which bears its name, as the constellation Aries in the sign Taurus, etc. [1913 Webster] (k) (Alg.) A character indicating the relation of quantities, or an operation performed upon them; as, the sign + (plus); the sign -- (minus); the sign of division /, and the like. (l) (Med.) An objective evidence of disease; that is, one appreciable by some one other than the patient. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The terms symptom and and sign are often used synonymously; but they may be discriminated. A sign differs from a symptom in that the latter is perceived only by the patient himself. The term sign is often further restricted to the purely local evidences of disease afforded by direct examination of the organs involved, as distinguished from those evidence of general disturbance afforded by observation of the temperature, pulse, etc. In this sense it is often called physical sign. [1913 Webster] (m) (Mus.) Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc. (n) (Theol.) That which, being external, stands for, or signifies, something internal or spiritual; -- a term used in the Church of England in speaking of an ordinance considered with reference to that which it represents. [1913 Webster]
  • An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. --Bk. of Common Prayer. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: See the Table of Arbitrary Signs, p. 1924. [1913 Webster]
  • Sign manual. (a) (Eng. Law) The royal signature superscribed at the top of bills of grants and letter patent, which are then sealed with the privy signet or great seal, as the case may be, to complete their validity. (b) The signature of one's name in one's own handwriting. --Craig. Tomlins. Wharton. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Token; mark; note; symptom; indication; signal; symbol; type; omen; prognostic; presage; manifestation. See Emblem. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Sign'

From: GCIDE
  • Sign \Sign\, v. i.
  • 1. To be a sign or omen. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or intelligence by signs. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Especially: To communicate in sign language. [PJC]
  • 4. To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent, responsibility, or obligation; as, he signed in red ink. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Sign'

From: GCIDE
  • Sign \Sign\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Signed; p. pr. & vb. n. Signing.] [OE. seinen to bless, originally, to make the sign of the cross over; in this sense fr. ASS. segnian (from segn, n.), or OF. seignier, F. signer, to mark, to sign (in sense 3), fr. L. signare to mark, set a mark upon, from signum. See Sign, n.]
  • 1. To represent by a sign; to make known in a typical or emblematic manner, in distinction from speech; to signify. [1913 Webster]
  • I signed to Browne to make his retreat. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign. [1913 Webster]
  • We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross. --Bk. of Com Prayer. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To affix a signature to; to ratify by hand or seal; to subscribe in one's own handwriting. [1913 Webster]
  • Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed, And let him sign it. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To assign or convey formally; -- used with away. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To mark; to make distinguishable. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'sign'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Sign'