signifier

English

Etymology

signify +‎ -er

Noun

signifier (plural signifiers)

1. Something or someone that signfies, 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.

   1. (cartomancy) A card representing a querent, question, or situation.
2. (linguistics) The sound of spoken word or string of letters on a page that a person recognizes as a sign.

Synonyms

• (cartomancy): significator

Related terms

• signified
• referent

Translations

something or someone that signfies, makes something more significant or important

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

(linguistics) the sound of spoken word or string of letters on a page that a person recognizes as a sign

• Czech: signifikant m
• French: signifiant (fr) m
• German: Signifikant (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 能記 (のうき, nōki), シニフィアン (shinifian)
• Russian: означа́ющее (ru) n (označájuščeje)

See also

intension on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• nigrifies

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French

Etymology

Loaned from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin significō, significāre, from signum (“mark, sign, emblem”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.ɲi.fje/

• audio:

  (file)

Verb

signifier

1. to signify, mean

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		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (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.