signifier
English
Etymology
signify + -er
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪə/
Audio (UK) (file) - Hyphenation: sig‧ni‧fi‧er
Noun
signifier (plural signifiers)
- Something or someone that signifies, makes something more significant or important.
- 2008, Diane Rubenstein, This is Not a President: Sense, Nonsense, and the American Political Imaginary:
- If commentators have concurred on the characterization of Reagan as a synecdoche, they have also noted his status as a signifier.
- (cartomancy) A card representing a querent, question, or situation.
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- (linguistics) The sound of a spoken word or string of letters on a page that a person recognizes as a sign.
- 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
- Here things are getting better and better for women and people of color, and gay men and lesbians, more and more integrated and open, and all you can think about is some stupid, lame problem with signifiers and signifieds.
- 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
Synonyms
- (cartomancy): significator
Related terms
- signified
- referent
Translations
something or someone that signifies, makes something more significant or important
(linguistics) the sound of spoken word or string of letters on a page that a person recognizes as a sign
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See also
intension on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- nigrifies
French
Etymology
From Middle French signifier, senefier, from Old French senefier, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin significō, from signum (“mark, sign, emblem”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /si.ɲi.fje/, /si.ni.fje/
audio (file)
Verb
signifier
- (transitive) to signify, mean
- Synonyms: indiquer, vouloir dire
Conjugation
Conjugation of signifier (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | signifier | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | signifiant /si.ɲi.fjɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | signifié /si.ɲi.fje/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ | signifies /si.ɲi.fi/ | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ | signifions /si.ɲi.fjɔ̃/ | signifiez /si.ɲi.fje/ | signifient /si.ɲi.fi/ |
| imperfect | signifiais /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ | signifiais /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ | signifiait /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ | signifiions /si.ɲi.fi.jɔ̃/ | signifiiez /si.ɲi.fi.je/ | signifiaient /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | signifiai /si.ɲi.fje/ | signifias /si.ɲi.fja/ | signifia /si.ɲi.fja/ | signifiâmes /si.ɲi.fjam/ | signifiâtes /si.ɲi.fjat/ | signifièrent /si.ɲi.fjɛʁ/ | |
| future | signifierai /si.ɲi.fi.ʁe/ | signifieras /si.ɲi.fi.ʁa/ | signifiera /si.ɲi.fi.ʁa/ | signifierons /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɔ̃/ | signifierez /si.ɲi.fi.ʁe/ | signifieront /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | signifierais /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ | signifierais /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ | signifierait /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ | signifierions /si.ɲi.fi.ʁjɔ̃/ | signifieriez /si.ɲi.fi.ʁje/ | signifieraient /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ | signifies /si.ɲi.fi/ | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ | signifiions /si.ɲi.fi.jɔ̃/ | signifiiez /si.ɲi.fi.je/ | signifient /si.ɲi.fi/ |
| imperfect2 | signifiasse /si.ɲi.fjas/ | signifiasses /si.ɲi.fjas/ | signifiât /si.ɲi.fja/ | signifiassions /si.ɲi.fja.sjɔ̃/ | signifiassiez /si.ɲi.fja.sje/ | signifiassent /si.ɲi.fjas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ | — | signifions /si.ɲi.fjɔ̃/ | signifiez /si.ɲi.fje/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- signification
- significatif
Further reading
- “signifier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.