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Glite Dictionary
signals intelligence

signals intelligence

2 3.9
Information you get by intercepting and studying electronic communications like phone calls and radio transmissions
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪɡnəlz ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒəns/
  • Specialized
translation icon : inteligencia de señales
  • Effective national security measures require accurate signals intelligence to track and understand global events.
  • signal intelligence satellites
  • human intelligence and signals intelligence

And the first question the lawyer asked was what is signals intelligence?

Examples

  • Every day, I'd go in and I'd get starting points for SIGINT, which is signals intelligence.

    Snowden (2016)

  • Through signals intelligence, analysts can intercept and decode communications from enemy forces.

  • You worked signals intelligence in Japan too, yes?

    Snowden (2016)

  • So he was my Chief of Naval signals intelligence and so we were very, very good friends.

  • At first, our signals intelligence tech wrote it off as interference.

    Spectral (2016)

  • Career paths included everything from signals intelligence to logistics, maintenance, linguistics, food service, and more.

  • I have been acting swiftly and effectively on the very good signals intelligence you've provided.

    Snowden (2016)

  • Technical collection encompasses signals intelligence, electronic intelligence, and imagery derived from satellites.

    Academic text (1990)

  • If you want to do proper signals intelligence, you use Facebook to gather data and augment your databases.

    Blog text (1)

  • The government relies heavily on signals intelligence to gather crucial information about potential threats.

Synonyms

SIGINT
vssignals intelligence
  • Specialized
1 7.5

Information people collect by secretly listening to phone calls or reading electronic messages like emails

is broader, including telemetry as well as communications and other signals
COMINT
vssignals intelligence
  • Jargon
1 9.9

Secret information taken from other people's messages for military or security use

is broader, covering all intercepted signals including telemetry data
communications intelligence
vssignals intelligence
  • Specialized
6.0

Information from listening to and reading other people's messages without their knowledge, used by armies or governments to find threats

is broader, applying to communications plus other electronic signal types
TELINT
vssignals intelligence
  • Jargon
9.9

Information you get from signals that foreign weapons or satellites send to learn how they work

is broader, also covering intercepted communications and other electronic transmissions
telemetry intelligence
vssignals intelligence
  • Jargon
8.6

Information from intercepted signals about foreign missile or space activity

is broader, including both telemetry and other kinds of intercepted signals

How Systematic

signals intelligence
  • Specialized
2 3.9
electronic reconnaissance
  • Specialized
8.1
signal detection
  • Specialized
5.5

Surface Forms

signals intelligence singular
signals intelligences plural

Morphology

signal + intelligence

The meaning 'intelligence gathered from electronic transmissions' is directly derivable from combining 'signals' (electronic or communications transmissions) with 'intelligence' (secret or information for security), so the compound denotes information coming from signals. Although the term is somewhat technical (military/technical jargon), its composition follows standard noun+noun compounding and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

The term signals intelligence comes from the simple idea of collecting 'intelligence' by listening to electronic signals like radio waves, phone calls, or radar. That's why it means getting secret or important 'information' from messages that are picked up on the air or in wires.