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Glite Dictionary
✍️ Official autograph event 🤟 Hand communication
signing

signing

22 3.7
Using hand movements and gestures to communicate, often as a language for deaf people
  • noun
  • /ˈsaɪnɪŋ/
translation icon : lengua de signos
  • At first, I didn't think she understood me; my signing is so clumsy compared to her fluid motions.
  • signing to songs

Often times I wouldn't have that access to signing.

Examples

  • Now, through technology, international deaf signing communities are able to remain communicatively close via a range of social media platforms.

    Academic text (2018)

  • For the regular students, signing served as a pictorial reinforcement of the meaning of a word.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Online sign language surveys could become the standard approach for researchers surveying deaf signing communities, replacing the once dominant text-based format.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The teacher used signing to help the students understand the lesson better.

  • During the conference, many speakers incorporated signing to include the deaf audience.

  • She became fluent in signing as part of her efforts to communicate with her deaf friend.

Synonyms

sign language
vssigning
32 2.8

A language using hand signs and face movements to communicate, often used by people who are deaf

is the action of using hand gestures rather than the whole language system

How Systematic

sign language
32 2.8
signing
22 3.7
gesture
140 2.3
pantomime
11 6.5

Surface Forms

signing singular
signings plural

Morphology

signing = sign (semi-transparent) = sign + ing

While the base 'sign' is clear, the specific use in the context of sign language is specialized and not immediately obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Signing comes from the idea of a sign, a 'mark' or 'signal'. Making a hand 'sign' is like giving a visible signal with your body, so signing means using hand gestures to show meaning.