signifier French · revision 16805

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (senefier)|origins=la signum, la faciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /si.ɲi.fje/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /si.ni.fje/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''signifier'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''senefier'' (1080), a more popular form, then ''signefier'' (1119) and ''signifier'' (about 1190).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|significō|t=to show by signs; to make known; to portend; to mean]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|11, 603b)^(Wiktionary) formed from [[m|la|signum|t=mark, sign]] (see [[signe]]) and [[m|la|faciō|t=to make]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Rey says the successive forms are inherited from or borrowed from the Latin verb;^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary calls the Old French form a semi-learned borrowing.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[pro|signifiar]], [[es|significar]] and [[it|significare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''Ce senefiet pais e humiliteit'', “this signifies peace and humility”: to be the sign of.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1119 it was used of a sign of language, a word or phrase; from Rabelais (1546) it means more precisely “to have as its sense” of a word.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In classical French ''signifier quelqu'un'' could mean “to designate by a name” (early 17th century).^(DHLF 1992) ''Cela ne signifie rien'' (1681) and ''qu'est-ce que cela signifie ?'' (Caraccioli, 1759) express displeasure.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ From the 12th century it also meant “to make known” (Wace, about 1145), and specifically “to notify in express words” (about 1175), whence “to summon” (1386), now lost, and “to serve notice legally” (Monet, 1636).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Old French also took the Latin sense “to portend” (about 1175) and “to suppose” (1223), both lost.^(DHLF 1992) From it came [[signifiance]] (about 1155), and, from its participle ''signifiant'' (1553), [[insignifiant]] (1778).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Senefier'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1119 – ''Signefier'', Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1145 – “To make known”, Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1160–74 – ''Signifier'', Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1546 – Of a word, “to mean”, Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – “To serve notice”, Monet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1759 – ''Qu'est-ce que cela signifie ?''^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of a word or sign: to [[m|en|mean]], [[m|en|signify]]: ''que signifie ce symbole ?''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a thing or fact: to be a sign of, imply: ''cela ne signifie rien'', ''qu'est-ce que cela signifie ?'', expressing displeasure.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To make known, express.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(law)'' To [[m|en|notify]], serve notice of.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[signifiant]]

+ * [[signifiance]]

+ * [[insignifiant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[signe]]

+ * [[signification]]

+ * [[significatif]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}