signified
Stood for something
Signified is the past tense of signify, meaning to indicate, represent, or be a sign of something: Dark clouds signified approaching rain.
It can also mean to express or make known: She signified her approval with a nod.
In semiotics, the signified is the concept or meaning that a sign represents, as distinct from the signifier (the word or image itself).
Perception or judgment
- definitionStatement of meaning
- contentWhat something contains
- essenceFundamental nature of something
- conceptAbstract mental construct
idea · notion · referent · denotation · implication · nuance · interpretation · understanding
What a term designates
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- representationDepiction or likeness
- meaningWhat something signifies
symbol · index · icon · code · arbitrariness · langue · parole · binary
Symbolic tale with deeper meaning
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- iconographyAnalysis of artistic symbols
- representationDepiction or likeness
archetype · motif · trope · subtext · allusion · figurative · resonance · connotation
Transmitted communication
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- conveyanceTransfer of property rights
- transmissionSending of information
- contentWhat something contains
articulation · utterance · statement · indication · representation · encoding · linguistic · verbal
Study of interpretation methods
- exegesisCritical textual interpretation
- deconstructionAnalysis exposing self-contradiction
- construalAct of interpreting meaning
- readingInterpreting written text
decoding · analysis · contextualization · understanding · comprehension · Derrida · textual · discourse
sense
Perception or judgment
- definitionStatement of meaning
- contentWhat something contains
- essenceFundamental nature of something
concept · idea · notion · referent · denotation · implication · nuance · interpretation · understanding · semantics
referent
What a term designates
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- representationDepiction or likeness
meaning · symbol · index · icon · code · arbitrariness · langue · parole · binary · structuralism
allegory
Symbolic tale with deeper meaning
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- iconographyAnalysis of artistic symbols
representation · archetype · motif · trope · subtext · allusion · figurative · resonance · connotation · imagery
message
Transmitted communication
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- conveyanceTransfer of property rights
- transmissionSending of information
content · articulation · utterance · statement · indication · representation · encoding · linguistic · verbal · nonverbal
hermeneutics
Study of interpretation methods
- exegesisCritical textual interpretation
- deconstructionAnalysis exposing self-contradiction
- construalAct of interpreting meaning
reading · decoding · analysis · contextualization · understanding · comprehension · Derrida · textual · discourse · meaning-making
- meaningmeaning, sense, denotation, definition, connotation
- literary termsmetaphor, character analysis, symbolism, prologue, epilogue
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, reference
- semioticssymbol, signs, code, meaning, icon
- French TheoryDerrida, Foucault, structuralism, poststructuralism, deconstruction
- literary theorystructuralism, deconstruction, formalism, post-structuralism, poetics
signifiedmeaningless
Lacking significance or purpose
vacant · null · uninterpreted · contentless
- significant otherRomantic life partner
- statistically significantUnlikely by chance alone
- cultural significanceMeaning within a community
- historical significanceWhy past events matter
- significant digitsNumerals showing measurement precision
- significant figurePrecision-conveying numeral in measurement
significance, significant, insignificant, insignificance, signifies, signification, signifier, signifiers