signage
Pronunciation
- /ˈsaɪnɪd͡ʒ/[1]
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
- Signs considered together, especially street signs, commercial signs and signs giving directions: The new station has bilingual signage.[6][2][3]
- The design or arrangement of a system of signs.[2][3]
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins