segno

Forms

segno m (plural segni)^[1] In southern Italy the word has forms such as singo at Naples and singu in Calabria.^[2] Old and dialect forms listed by the GDLI include ségne, ségnio, séno, signo and sinno, with an old feminine plural le signa.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin signum (“mark, sign; standard; image; constellation”).^[4][5][6][1] DELI gives the Latin vowel as long, Nocentini and GRADIT as short.^[4][5][6]

The word is found across the Romance languages: French seing (“signature”), Occitan senh, Sardinian sinnu and Romanian semn, while Catalan senya, Spanish seña and Portuguese senha continue the Latin neuter plural, which was taken as a feminine singular.^[5][7] With Christianity the word also spread beyond Romance, as in German Segen (“blessing”).^[2][7] The sense “bell”, found in seing and senh and in the compound French tocsin, is first recorded in Gregory of Tours.^[2][7]

The Latin noun is usually explained as a derivative of the root of secō (“to cut”), so that it first meant “a mark cut in”, “something carved out”.^[5][8][6] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *sekno- (“statue, sign”) and Proto-Indo-European *sek(h₂)-no- (“cut”), and cites Oscan cognates meaning “statue”.^[8] DELI and Treccani treat the link with the verb as only possible, and Wiktionary also allows Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”).^[4][9][1] Devoto compares dignus beside decet and lignum beside legō for the change of /k/ to /g/ before /n/.^[10] The Italian ⟨gn⟩ stands for the long palatal nasal /ɲɲ/.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, in the sense “an evident indication from which something can be inferred”.^[4][11] Nocentini and GRADIT put the word in the first half of the 13th century.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Dante, before 1321, already uses segno for a target, for a trace or print left on a surface, and for any written mark that stands for something, especially something abstract;^[4] Boccaccio has it in 1353 for a nod or gesture.^[4] In Old Italian it could also mean a banner, a statue, a constellation, and a spot or bruise on the skin,^[2] and Giovanni Villani writes of the segno celeste, a sign of the zodiac.^[12]

Derivatives grew around the word: segnale “agreed signal” is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, segnalare in Annibal Caro before 1566, and segnalibro “bookmark” in 1891.^[4] In music segno names the sign that marks where a repeat begins or ends;^[13] French took it in 1703, German in 1732 and English in the 19th century.^[13]

Modern senses include the sign in medicine, which the doctor observes as distinct from the symptom the patient feels, and the linguistic sign of semiotics, a signifier joined to a signified.^[14][15]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses segno for an indication of something.^[4]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino has the derivative segnale.^[4]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the word for a target, a print and a written sign.^[4]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a nod or gesture.^[4]
• Before 1561 – The musical sense is recorded.^[13]
• 1703 – French borrows segno as a musical term.^[13]
• 1732 – German Segno is recorded.^[13]
• 1891 – Segnalibro “bookmark” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mark or trace left on a surface: Il gatto ha lasciato i segni delle unghie sul divano.^[6][15][16]
2. A conventional written symbol standing for a sound, number, operation or idea: il segno della moltiplicazione.^[6][14][16]
3. A fact or circumstance that shows or foretells something; an omen: Quelle nuvole sono segno di temporale.^[6][17][9]
4. A gesture or act that expresses a feeling or intention: Mi fece segno di sedermi.^[6][14][9]
5. A distinguishing feature by which someone or something is recognised.^[15][16]
6. (medicine) A manifestation of disease that the doctor finds on examination.^[14][17]
7. (linguistics) The basic unit of communication, a signifier joined to a signified.^[6][15]
8. A sign of the zodiac.^[1][9]
9. The target aimed at in shooting.^[1][4]

Word family

• contrassegno
• segnacaso
• segnacolo
• segnalamento
• segnalare
• segnalato
• segnalatore
• segnalazione
• segnale
• segnaletica
• segnaletico
• segnalibro
• segnalinee
• segnaposto

Related words

• segnare
• insegna
• Latin signum

Usage notes

Common phrases include in segno di (as a token of), lasciare il segno (to leave a lasting mark), segno della croce (the sign of the cross), segni particolari (distinguishing marks in identity documents) and buon segno!, brutto segno! (a good or bad sign).^{[6][17][9][16]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3442
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 476
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 399
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 905
13. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli