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signifier

signifier

1 8.2
The form of a word when spoken or written that stands for an idea
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪɡnɪˌfaɪər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : significante
  • The signifier 'dog' points to the concept of a domesticated animal known for companionship.
  • signifier and signified
  • relationship between signifier

The sign would would be, or the signifier would be the form.

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Examples

  • Nora attempts to connect the signified, the father's name, with the signifier, the signature.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Who selected Delphine's clothes as they appear to be an extremely important signifier of her mood?

    Blog text (28)
  • For Everett, America is history, its status as signifier long ago determined.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The dropping of a letter in this transition is crucial because it is a signifier of the lack produced in this transformation.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Style, normally seen as an insignificant surface manifestation of language, becomes the signifier for a vast range of rhetorical phenomena.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Visuals are not playthings because signifiers have serious consequences in the status quo.

    Blog text (8)
  • Each quotation has, as Brown obliquely hints in his commentary, its own semiotic link or visual signifier in the painting.

    Academic text (1992)
  • In linguistics, a signifier is the form that conveys meaning, like the word 'tree' representing the concept of a tree.

  • In semiotics, understanding the signifier helps decode the hidden meanings behind various symbols.

Synonyms

symbol
vssignifier
625 3.5

An object that stands for an idea or feeling

is specifically the linguistic shape that represents concepts or objects
form
vssignifier
  • Specialized
28 2.1

The sound or spelling of a word

is the linguistic shape used to represent a concept or object
1 6.3

A visible thing like a flag that stands for an idea you cannot see

is focused on linguistic shapes like sounds or written appearance rather than objects
written symbol
vssignifier
4.2

A written mark, like a letter, that stands for a sound or idea

is broader, covering both written appearance and spoken sound
significatory
vssignifier
9.9

A person or thing that shows a meaning

is the linguistic shape itself rather than an agent or indicator

Surface Forms

signifier singular
signifiers plural

Morphology

signifier = signify (semi-transparent) = sign + ify + er

Formed by adding the agentive suffix '-er' to the verb 'signify', yielding 'one/that which signifies'; the derivation is regular and clear.

Etymology

The word signifier comes from Latin parts signum ('sign') and facere ('to make'), and you can see the same root in English words like sign and signal. So a signifier is something that 'makes' or shows a sign, the sound or written form of a word that points to the idea or object it represents.