sign

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened)
  2. noun a public display of a message
  3. noun any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message

Etymology

From Middle English signe, sygne, syng, seine, sine, syne, from Old English seġn (“sign; mark; token”) and Old French signe, seing (“sign; mark; signature”); both from Latin signum (“a mark; sign; token”); root uncertain. Doublet of signum and signal. Partially displaced native token.

In classic literature

Synonyms

mark

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