signifier

English

Etymology

signify +‎ -er

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sig‧ni‧fi‧er

Noun

signifier (plural signifiers)

1. Something or someone that signifies, makes something more significant or important.
   • 2008, Diane Rubenstein, This is Not a President: Sense, Nonsense, and the American Political Imaginary‎^[1]:

     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, philosophy) A sign, such as a written or spoken word, which refers to some concept, object or person, the signified.
   • 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

     Here things are getting better and better for women and people of color, and gay men and lesbians, more and more integrated and open, and all you can think about is some stupid, lame problem with signifiers and signifieds.

Synonyms

• (cartomancy): significator

Derived terms

• empty signifier
• floating signifier
• master signifier

 

Related terms

• signified
• referent

Translations

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

• Finnish: merkityksen antaja

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

• Czech: signifikant (cs) m
• Finnish: merkitsin (fi)
• French: signifiant (fr) m
• German: Signifikant (de) m
• Japanese: 能記 (のうき, nōki), シニフィアン (shinifian)
• Russian: означа́ющее (ru) n (označájuščeje)
• Spanish: significante (es) m

See also

intension on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• nigrifies

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French signifier, senefier, from Old French senefier, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin significāre, from signum (“mark, sign, emblem”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.ɲi.fje/, /si.ni.fje/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

signifier

1. (transitive) to signify, mean

   Synonyms: indiquer, vouloir dire

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.