signification
What something denotes
Signification is the meaning conveyed by a word, sign, or symbol—what something signifies.
The term appears most often in philosophy and linguistics, where it describes the relationship between a sign and what it represents: The signification of a red light is "stop".
In ordinary speech, significance covers the same ground more naturally.
Statement of meaning
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- sensePerception or judgment
- semanticsStudy of linguistic meaning
import · purport · reference · content · essence · concept · nuance · interpretation
Meaning-bearing form
- semiologyTheory of sign systems
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- referentWhat a term designates
code · structuralism · poststructuralism · deconstruction · paradigm · morpheme · discourse · representation
Representational mark or sign
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- iconographyAnalysis of artistic symbols
totem · motif · archetype · typology · figurative · imagery · allusion · synecdoche
Magical or heraldic symbol
- omenProphetic indicator
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
- runeAncient Germanic letter
- portentSign of future calamity
prophecy · augury · oracle · soothsayer · auspice · prognostication · clairvoyance · reading
definition
Statement of meaning
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- sensePerception or judgment
semantics · import · purport · reference · content · essence · concept · nuance · interpretation · lexical
signifier
Meaning-bearing form
- semiologyTheory of sign systems
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
referent · code · structuralism · poststructuralism · deconstruction · paradigm · morpheme · discourse · representation · encoding
symbol
Representational mark or sign
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
iconography · totem · motif · archetype · typology · figurative · imagery · allusion · synecdoche · metonymy
sigil
Magical or heraldic symbol
- omenProphetic indicator
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
- runeAncient Germanic letter
portent · prophecy · augury · oracle · soothsayer · auspice · prognostication · clairvoyance · reading · casting
marker
Something that signals location
pointer · symptom · evidence · omen · portent · herald · harbinger · presage · forewarning · augury
- meaningmeaning, sense, denotation, definition, connotation
- literary analysisliterary analysis, character analysis, book review, plot, critical analysis
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, reference
- semioticssignifier, symbol, signs, code, meaning
- French LawNapoleonic Code, magistrates, judiciary, civil courts, criminal courts
- literary theorystructuralism, deconstruction, formalism, post-structuralism, poetics
significationmeaninglessness
Lack of significance
nonsense · emptiness · gibberish · vacuity · unintelligibility
significationinsignificance
Lack of consequence or weight
triviality · irrelevance · unimportance · inconsequence · meaninglessness
sign, design, signal, assign, resign, significance, significant, consign, insignia