signage

Etymology

It is formed from English sign + -age.^[2][3][4][5] Etymonline notes that the word was used earlier in legal language for the affixing of signatures,^[4] and that Middle English had signance (“a sign, signal, indication”) (c. 1400), a different formation.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Signs taken together, especially commercial signs or signs on public display: 1949, in the magazine Outdoor Indiana.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates it to 1949,^[3] while Etymonline gives 1972 for the sense of signs collectively, especially public signs on roads or outside shops.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word was a collective noun for signs, and the OED extends it to the design and arrangement of such signs.^[2] Merriam-Webster likewise includes a system or design of signs, as for identification, warning or direction,^[3] and Collins singles out street signs and signs giving directions.^[6]

Timeline

• 1949 – signs collectively, especially commercial or public signs.^[2][3] Etymonline dates the word to 1972, of signs on roads and outside shops.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Signs considered together, especially street signs, commercial signs and signs giving directions: The new station has bilingual signage.^[6][2][3]
2. The design or arrangement of a system of signs.^[2][3]

Related words

• sign
• signal
• signature

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins