What does signify mean?

Definitions for signify
ˈsɪg nəˌfaɪsig·ni·fy

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word signify.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. mean, intend, signify, stand forverb

    denote or connote

    "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An example sentence would show what this word means"

  2. signifyverb

    convey or express a meaning

    "These words mean nothing to me!"; "What does his strange behavior signify?"

  3. signifyverb

    make known with a word or signal

    "He signified his wish to pay the bill for our meal"

Wiktionary

  1. signifyverb

    To give (something) a meaning or an importance.

  2. signifyverb

    To show one's intentions with a sign etc.

  3. signifyverb

    To mean; to betoken.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To SIGNIFYverb

    Etymology: signifier, French; significo, Latin.

    The maid from that ill omen turn’d her eyes,
    Nor knew what signify’d the boding sign,
    But found the pow’rs displeas’d. Dryden.

    Those parts of nature, into which the chaos was divided, they signified by dark and obscure names; as the night, tartarus, and oceanus. Thomas Burnet, Theory of the Earth.

    Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player,
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
    And then is heard no more! It is a tale,
    Told by an ideot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing! William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    Stephano, signify
    Within the house your mistress is at hand. William Shakespeare.

    Though he that sins frequently, and repents frequently, gives reason to believe his repentances before God signify nothing; yet that is nothing to us. Taylor.

    What signifies the splendor of courts, considering the slavish attendances that go along with it? Roger L'Estrange.

    He hath one way more, which although it signify little to men of sober reason, yet unhappily hits the suspicious humour of men, that governors have a design to impose. John Tillotson.

    If the first of these fail, the power of Adam, were it never so great, will signify nothing to the present societies in the world. John Locke.

    What signifies the people’s consent in making and repealing laws, if the person who administers hath no tie. Jonathan Swift.

    I’ll to the king, and signify to him,
    That thus I have resign’d to you my charge. William Shakespeare, R. III.

    He sent and signified it by his angel unto John. Rev. i. 1.

    The government should signify to the protestants of Ireland, that want of silver is not to be remedied. Jonathan Swift.

  2. To Signifyverb

    To express meaning with force.

    If the words be but comely and signifying, and the sense gentle, there is juice; but where that wanteth, the language is thin. Ben Jonson.

ChatGPT

  1. signify

    To signify means to represent, indicate, or mean something. It refers to the action of conveying or expressing a particular meaning, idea, or importance through a symbol, sign, gesture, behavior, or a particular characteristic.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Signifynoun

    to show by a sign; to communicate by any conventional token, as words, gestures, signals, or the like; to announce; to make known; to declare; to express; as, a signified his desire to be present

  2. Signifynoun

    to mean; to import; to denote; to betoken

Wikidata

  1. Signify

    Signify is the fourth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. It was released in September 1996 and later re-released in 2003 with a second disc of demos, which had previously been released on the b-side cassette tape Insignificance, and a third time, on vinyl, on 9 May 2011. It was the first album that frontman Steven Wilson recorded with the band on board from the beginning; previous albums had been essentially solo efforts with occasional help from other musicians.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Signify

    sig′ni-fī, v.t. to make known by a sign or by words: to mean: to indicate or declare: to have consequence.—v.i. to be of consequence:—pa.t. and pa.p. sig′nifīed.adj. Sig′nifiable, that may be signified or represented by symbols.—n. Signif′icance, that which is signified: meaning: importance: moment—also Signif′icancy.—adj. Signif′icant, signifying: expressive of something: standing as a sign.—adv. Signif′icantly.—ns. Signif′icate, in logic, one of several things signified by a common term; Significā′tion, act of signifying: that which is signified: meaning.—adj. Signif′icātive, signifying: denoting by a sign: having meaning: expressive.—adv. Signif′icātively, in a significative manner: so as to betoken by an external sign.—ns. Signif′icātiveness, the quality of being significative; Signif′icātor, one who signifies: (astrol.) a planet ruling a house.—adj. Signif′icatory. [L. significāre, -ātum, signum, a sign, facĕre, to make.]

Editors Contribution

  1. signify

    To express a meaning.

    The people's behaviour does signify the creation of a sustainable world based on love, peace, balance, harmony, truth and a society that works for the benefit of everyone.


    Submitted by MaryC on March 14, 2020  

Matched Categories

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce signify?

How to say signify in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of signify in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of signify in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of signify in a Sentence

  1. Seneca:

    A good conscience fears no witness, but a guilty conscience is solicitous even in solitude. If we do nothing but what is honest, let all the world know it. But if otherwise, what does it signify to have nobody else know it, so long as I know it myself? Miserable is he who slights that witness.

  2. Andrew Cuomo:

    I understand the feelings about Christopher Columbus and some of his acts, which nobody would support, but the statue has come to represent and signify appreciation for the Italian-American contribution to New York.

  3. Joshua Monge:

    We would like to offer you this to signify our appreciation, it is very fat and very sweet.

  4. Barack Obama:

    As I said on Friday, I think it doesn't solve all our problems, but what it does is signify a sense of empathy and recognition that I think is always the start of progress.

  5. Ras Baraka:

    Today's protests signify an important fact : our Newark Public School students understand that they are not receiving the education they deserve from the Newark Public School system.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

signify#10000#29166#100000

Translations for signify

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for signify »

Translation

Find a translation for the signify definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"signify." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/signify>.

Discuss these signify definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for signify? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    having a build with little fat or muscle but with long limbs
    A arbitrary
    B epidemic
    C soft-witted
    D ectomorphic

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for signify: