sign

Pronunciation

• IPA: /saɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English signe, borrowed from Old French signe (“sign, mark”), and directly borrowed from Latin signum (“mark, token, signal; military standard”),^[2][3][4] of uncertain origin.^[3] According to Watkins it is literally “a standard that one follows”, from Proto-Indo-European *sekw- (“to follow”),^[2][4] the root of Latin sequī (“to follow”).^[3] Klein, Merriam-Webster and de Vaan relate it instead to secāre (“to cut”), as “something cut out”.^[5][6][2] The verb is Middle English signen, from Old English segnian (“to make the sign of the cross”) and Old French signer,^[2][3] from signāre (“to mark”), from signum.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A gesture of the hand, especially one conveying a thought: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[3] or the early 13th century.^[2][8] The verb, “to make the sign of the cross”, is from the early 13th century^[2] or about 1300.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Sign displaced native token.^[2] A mark or device with a special meaning is from the late 13th century,^[2] and “an indication of a coming event” and “a miracle” from about 1300.^[2] One of the twelve divisions of the zodiac is a sign from the mid-14th century,^[2][9] and the inn or shop board from the mid-15th century.^[2][9] Sign of the times is from the 1520s,^[2] and conventional symbols, as in music or mathematics, from 1557.^[8] The verb “to mark, stamp” is from the mid-14th century,^[2] and “to write one's name on” from 1440^[3] or the late 15th century.^[2] “To communicate by hand signs” is from 1700.^[2] In baseball, to sign a player is by 1889.^[2] Sign language is from 1847, signboard from 1632 and signpost from 1620.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1200 – a gesture.^[3]
• early 13th century – verb, to cross oneself.^[2]
• late 13th century – a meaningful mark.^[2]
• mid-14th century – a sign of the zodiac.^[2]
• 1440 – to sign one's name.^[3]
• mid-15th century – an inn or shop sign.^[2]
• 1520s – sign of the times.^[2]
• 1700 – to communicate by signs.^[2]
• 1847 – sign language.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Something that indicates the presence of a fact or condition; an indication.
2. A gesture that conveys an idea or command.
3. A board or notice with words or symbols giving information.
4. A conventional symbol, as in music or mathematics.
5. One of the twelve divisions of the zodiac.
6. Sign language.

Verb

1. To write one's signature on.
2. To engage by contract: to sign a player.
3. To communicate with signs or in sign language.
4. To mark with the sign of the cross.

Word family

• signer
• signee
• signless
• signlike
• cosign
• re-sign
• countersign
• signable

Related words

• signage
• signatory
• signal
• signature
• signet
• signify
• significant
• assign
• design
• resign
• ensign
• insignia
• seal

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares sign with badge, mark, token, symptom, note and gesture.^[10] In southern English and Isle of Wight dialect sign was also an aphetic form of design, “to intend”.^[11]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)