sigla

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin sigla.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɡlə/
• Hyphenation: sig‧la

Noun

sigla

1. plural of siglum

Anagrams

• Aligs, Gilas, Ligas

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin sigla, plural of siglum (“abbreviation”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈsiɡ.ɡlə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈsi.ɣla]

Noun

sigla f (plural sigles)

1. initial (first letter of a word)
2. initialism

Further reading

• “sigla”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “sigla”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɪɡla]

Verb

sigla (third person singular past indicative sigldi, third person plural past indicative siglt, supine siglt)

1. to sail

Conjugation

Conjugation of sigla (group v-1)

infinitive	sigla
supine	siglt
	present	past
first singular	sigli	sigldi
second singular	siglir	sigldi
third singular	siglir	sigldi
plural	sigla	sigldu
participle (a7)1	siglandi	sigldur
	imperative
singular	sigl!
plural	siglið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: siglas, siglât

Verb

sigla

1. third-person singular past historic of sigler

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪkla/
• Rhymes: -ɪkla

Etymology 1

From Old Norse sigla, from Proto-Germanic *siglijaną.

Verb

sigla (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative sigldi, supine siglt)

1. to sail

Conjugation

sigla – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að sigla
supine sagnbót		siglt
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		siglandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	sigli	sigldi		sigli	sigldi
	þú	siglir	sigldir		siglir	sigldir
	hann, hún, það	siglir	sigldi		sigli	sigldi
plural	við	siglum	sigldum		siglum	sigldum
	þið	siglið	siglduð		siglið	siglduð
	þeir, þær, þau	sigla	sigldu		sigli	sigldu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	sigl (þú), sigldu
plural	þið	siglið (þið), sigliði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

sigldur — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	sigldur	sigld	siglt	sigldir	sigldar	sigld
accusative (þolfall)	sigldan	siglda	siglt	siglda	sigldar	sigld
dative (þágufall)	sigldum	sigldri	sigldu	sigldum	sigldum	sigldum
genitive (eignarfall)	siglds	sigldrar	siglds	sigldra	sigldra	sigldra
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	sigldi	siglda	siglda	sigldu	sigldu	sigldu
accusative (þolfall)	siglda	sigldu	siglda	sigldu	sigldu	sigldu
dative (þágufall)	siglda	sigldu	siglda	sigldu	sigldu	sigldu
genitive (eignarfall)	siglda	sigldu	siglda	sigldu	sigldu	sigldu

Etymology 2

Noun

sigla f (genitive singular siglu, nominative plural siglur)

1. mast

Declension

Declension of sigla (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	sigla	siglan	siglur	siglurnar
accusative	siglu	sigluna	siglur	siglurnar
dative	siglu	siglunni	siglum	siglunum
genitive	siglu	siglunnar	siglna	siglnanna

Anagrams

• galsi

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ɡla/
• Rhymes: -iɡla

Etymology 1

Noun

sigla f (plural sigle)

1. acronym, abbreviation, initialism
2. (in the plural) initials
3. monogram
4. theme song, leitmotif, short melody that opens or closes a radio/television broadcast (see: avansigla)

Derived terms

• avansigla
• sigla automobilistica
• sigla musicale

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

sigla

1. inflection of siglare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Noun

sigla

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of siglum

References

• “sigla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sigla”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• sigle, segle (e-infinitives)
• segla

Etymology

From Old Norse sigla. Akin to English sail.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²sɪɡla/

Verb

sigla (imperative sigl, present tense sigler or siglar, simple past siglde or sigla, past participle siglt or sigla, present participle siglande)

1. (nautical) to sail

   Skipet sigler til Amerika.

   The ship is sailing to America.

References

• “sigla” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sigla, plural of siglum (“abbreviation”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ɡlɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ɡlɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ɡla/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ɡlɐ/ [ˈsi.ɣlɐ]

• Hyphenation: si‧gla

Noun

sigla f (plural siglas)

1. initialism (word formed by initial letters)
2. acronym (abbreviation formed by the initial letters of other words)
3. monogram (letter or other symbol that stands for a word or name)

Usage notes

Some make a distinction between sigla and acrónimo, where acrónimo is an acronym pronounced as if it were a single word and sigla one where each letter is pronounced individually.

Synonyms

• (monogram): monograma

Related terms

• siglado
• siglar
• siglatura
• siglema
• siglística
• siglístico

Further reading

• “sigla”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sigla”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin sigla, a feminine singular reinterpreted from a neuter plural of Late Latin siglum (“abbreviation”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsiɡla/ [ˈsi.ɣ̞la]
• Rhymes: -iɡla
• Syllabification: si‧gla

Noun

sigla f (plural siglas)

1. initial
   • 2025 June 7, Jeanne Sahadi, “El DOGE acaba de recibir luz verde para acceder a tus datos del Seguro Social. ¿Qué significa?”, in CNN en Español‎^[2]:

     Otros tipos de información personal también pueden obtenerse o cotejarse a través de los acuerdos de intercambio de datos de la SSA con el Servicio de Impuestos Internos (IRS, por sus siglas en inglés) y el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. acronym (of any type: phonetic acronym or initialism)

See also

• abreviación

Further reading

• “sigla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit शीघ्र (śīghra, “swift; quick; speedy”). Compare Kapampangan sigla, Tausug sigla', and Malay segera.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /siɡˈla/ [sɪɡˈla]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: sig‧la

Noun

siglá (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜄ᜔ᜎ)

1. enthusiasm; fervor; zeal

   Synonyms: sigasig, interes, apan, sigya

2. animation; liveliness

   Synonyms: sigsa, buhay, animasyon

Derived terms

• isigla
• kasiglahan
• kawalang-sigla
• magpasigla
• makapagsigla
• masigla
• nakapagpapasigla
• pagpapasigla
• pampasigla
• pasiglahin
• sumigla
• walang-kasigla-sigla
• walang-sigla

See also

• latoy

Further reading

• “sigla”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Anagrams

• galis, silag, ligsa, gilas, lagis, salig