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Definition: Sign |
SignAdjective1. Used of the language of the deaf. Noun1. A perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened); "he showed signs of strain"; "they welcomed the signs of spring". 2. A public display of a (usually written) message; "he posted signs in all the shop windows". 3. Any communication that encodes a message; "signals from the boat suddenly stopped". 4. Structure displaying a board on which advertisements can be posted; "the highway was lined with signboards". 5. One of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided. 6. (medical) any objective evidence of the presence of a disorder or disease; "there were no signs of asphixiation". 7. Having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges); "he got the polarity of the battery reversed"; "charges of opposite sign". 8. An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come; "he hoped it was an augury"; "it was a sign from God". 9. A gesture that is part of a sign language. 10. : (linguistics) a fundamental linguistic unit linking a signifier to that which is signified; "The bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary"--de Saussure. 11. : a character indicating a relation between quantities; "don't forget the minus sign". Verb1. Mark with one's signature; write one's name (on); "She signed the letter and sent it off"; "Please sign here". 2. Write one's name in token of assent, responsibility, or obligation; "All parties signed the peace treaty"; "Have you signed your contract yet?". 3. Be engaged by a written agreement; "He signed to play the casino on Dec. 18"; "The soprano signed to sing the new opera". 4. Engage by written agreement; "They signed two new pitchers for the next season". 5. Communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs; "He signed his disapproval with a dismissive hand gesture"; "The diner signaled the waiters to bring the menu". 6. Place signs, as along a road; "sign an intersection"; "This road has been signed". 7. Communicate in sign language; "I don't know how to sign, so I could not communicate with my deaf cousin". 8. Make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sign" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | A -- is an announcement publicly exhibited which is designed to be understood at a glance. . . the -- must combine immediate visual effectiveness with concise communication of a message. Source: European Union. (references) |
| Plus or minus. In twos-complement notation, the sign can be determined by examining bit 7, the MSB. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Medicine | Objective evidence of disease or deformity. Source: European Union. (references) |
| An objective evidence or physical manifestation of disease. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Religion & Philosophy | Though these have the same name as the Zodiacal constellations. . . they are not to be confused with them. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Digital signatures are a method of authenticating digital information, in the same sense that an individual signing a paper document (or applying the seal of an organization) authenticates it.
A digital signature is itself simply a sequence of bits conforming to one of a number of standards in the area.
Most digital signatures rely on public key cryptography to work, and a basic understanding of the principles of these systems is required to understand how digital signatures work. Consider the case of two people, Alice and Bob. Bob wants Alice (and other people, for that matter) to be able to send secret messages to him. To do this, Bob generates a key pair consisting of two related "keys". One key, called the public key, can easily be computed from the other, called the secret or private key; but it is impractical, even for a well-funded organization, to compute the private key from the public key. Bob keeps his private key secret, and publishes his public key (on his webpage, for example, or by sending it to a keyserver).
Alice retrieves Bob's public key and scrambles or encrypts the message with it. Once encrypted with the public key, it cannot be descrambled or decrypted without the private key, so any person who intercepts the message cannot read the contents, even with Bob's public key. When Bob receives the message, he decrypts it using his private key. Therefore, the message is kept secret, and Bob and Alice do not need another "secure" channel to exchange a shared key.
The above is a simple outline of the methods, and does not deal with the details of how the key pairs are generated, how they are applied to encrypt and decrypt the message, and what prevents an attacker with access to the scrambled message and the public key from retrieving the unscrambled message or the secret key. See public key cryptography for more details.
The whole system depends on the fact that anyone can transform a message using a public key, but the private key is needed to reverse that transformation. Now consider a different scenario, where Bob wants to send a message to Alice that he wants to prove came from him (but doesn't care whether anybody else reads it). In this case, Bob sends an unscrambled copy of the message to Alice, along with a copy of the message scrambled with his private (not public) key. Alice (or any other recipient) can then check whether the message really came from Bob by unscrambling the scrambled message with Bob's public key and comparing it with the unscrambled version. If they match, the message was really from Bob, because the private key was needed to create the signature and no one but Bob has it. The scrambled copy is a digital signature because anyone can use Bob's public key to verify that Bob created it.
Often, Bob applies a cryptographically strong hash function to the message and encrypts the resulting message digest instead of the entire message, which makes the signature significantly shorter than the message and saves considerable time (since hashing is generally much faster, byte for byte, than public-key encryption). In this case, the scheme may be susceptible to a birthday attack.
To finish: current and future applications, actual algorithms, standards, why not adopted as widely as expected, etc.
Some digital signature algorithms include:
- RSA
- DSA
- ElGamal
Legal aspects
United States
Legislation concerning the effect and validity of digital signatures includes:
- Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA)
- Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN), at 15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
Legal cases
Court decisions discussing the effect and validity of digital signatures or digital signature-related legislation:
- In re Piranha, Inc, 2003 WL 21468504 (N.D. Tex) (UETA does not preclude a person from contesting that he executed, adopted, or authorized an electronic signature that is purportedly his).
- Cloud Corp. v. Hasbro, 314 F.3d 289 (7th Cir., 2002)[1] (E-SIGN does not apply retroactively to contracts formed before it took effect in 2000. Nevertheless, the statute of frauds was satisfied by the text of E-mails plus an (apparently) written notation.)
- Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. Lozen International, 285 F.3d 808 (9th Cir., 2002) [1] (Internal corporate E-mail with signature block, forwarded to a third party by another employee, was admissible over hearsay objection as a party-admission, where the statement was apparently within the scope of the author's and forwarder's employment.)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Digital signature."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Within a writing system, a sign is a basic unit. Similar terms which are more specific are character, letter or grapheme.In Semiotics a sign is generally defined as "Something that stands for something else, to someone in some capacity" (Marcel Danesi and Paul Perron, "Analyzing Cultures")
This definition tries to establish the dual nature of a sign (as expressed by de Saussure) where the sign is divided into the tangible part (Saussure: signifier) and the conceptual part (Saussure: signified). It also posits the importance of both orientational and situational context in which a sign can mean - a sign has to mean something to someone for the notion of meaning to be relevant (if you like, an observer of the sign's meaning has to be present for the meaning to exist) and the *way* a sign means can change depending on the situation, culture and a few other variables.
De Saussure's definition of a sign differs from that proposed by C. S. Peirce. He proposed that there are three parts to a sign:
Perice's definition, while more obscure is also more precise because it allows for a greater degree if distinction between the elements that go into the creation of a sign.
- object - the concept that the sign encodes
- representamen - the perceivable part of the sign
- interpretant - the meaning one obtains from the sign
Finally, signs are not limited to words but also include images, gestures, scents, tastes, textures, sounds - essentially all of the ways in which information can be expressed and transmitted by living beings.
In general linguistics Ferdinand de Saussure described a sign as a combination of a concept and a sound-image. A sound image is something mental as it is possible to talk to oneself without actually moving the lips. But normally the sound-images are used to produce an utterance.
So a sign consists of
Source: Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistics; Part One - General principles; chapter Nature of the Linguistics Sign
- a concept - respectivly the signified (signifié)
- a sound-image - respectivly the signifier (signifiant), or phonological form in generative terms..
The field which studies systems of signs is called semiotics. In medicine, a sign is a objective evidence of the presence of a disease or disorder, as opposed to a symptom, which is subjective. In computing, the digits where one bit among them tells the number is either negative or non-negative are called signed, otherwise unsigned.
In mathematics, the sign of a number refers to whether it is negative or positive.
On (the side of) roads there are traffic signs. See also signing
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sign."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
SIGN | English | Safe Injection Global Network | N/A |
| E Sign | English | Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act | N/A |
| Sign. | Latin | Signatum(erat) | Public Administration |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: SignSynonyms: gestural (adj), sign(a) (adj), signed (adj), sign-language(a) (adj), augury (n), house (n), mansion (n), mark (n), planetary house (n), polarity (n), sign of the zodiac (n), signal (n), signaling (n), signboard (n), bless (v), contract (v), fee (v), ratify (v), sign on (v), sign up (v), signalize (v), subscribe (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Compact | Make a bargain, strike a bargain; come to terms, come to an understanding; compromise; set at rest; close, close with; conclude, complete, settle; confirm, ratify, clench, subscribe, underwrite; endorse, indorse; put the seal to; sign, seal; (attest); indent. |
Evidence | Bear witness; Noun: give evidence; Noun: testify, depose, witness, vouch for; sign, seal, undersign, set one's hand and seal, sign and seal, deliver as one's act and deed, certify, attest; acknowledge; (assent). |
Indication | Beacon, cairn, post, staff, flagstaff, hand, pointer, vane, weathercock; guidepost, handpost, fingerpost, directing post, signpost; pillars of Hercules, pharos; bale-fire, beacon-fire; l'etoile du Nord; landmark, seamark; lighthouse, balize; polestar, loadstar, lodestar; cynosure, guide; address, direction, name; sign, signboard. |
Omen | Noun: omen, portent, presage, prognostic, augury, auspice; sign; (indication); harbinger; (precursor); yule candle. |
Prodigy | Noun: prodigy, phenomenon; wonder, wonderment; marvel, miracle; monster; (unconformity); curiosity, lion, sight, spectacle; jeu de theatre, coup de theatre; gazingstock; sign; St. Elmo's fire, St. Elmo's light; portent. |
Record | Mark; (indicate); sign; (attest). |
Security | Execute, stamp; sign, seal; (evidence). |
Writing | Verb: write, pen; copy, engross; write out, write out fair; transcribe; scribble, scrawl, scrabble, scratch; interline; stain paper; write down; (record); sign; (attest); enface. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Sign |
| English words defined with "sign": American sign language ♦ Babinski sign ♦ dollar sign ♦ equals sign ♦ minus sign ♦ Negative sign ♦ Plus sign, Positive sign ♦ Radical sign ♦ street sign ♦ V sign, vital sign. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "sign": at sign ♦ BARBER'S SIGN, bivariate sign test ♦ Hodges bivariate sign test ♦ indefinite call sign ♦ matrix sign ♦ number sign ♦ PAINTER HELPER, SIGN, PAINTER, SIGN, pound sign ♦ regulatory sign ♦ Seguin sign, SIGN ERECTOR I, SIGN ERECTOR II, sign hanger, SIGN OF A HOUSE TO LET, SIGN OF THE FIVE SHILLINGS, sign printer, SIGN WRITER, MACHINE, Sign your Name, supplementary sign ♦ tactical call sign ♦ variable message sign. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "sign": tocsin. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Sign" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Pidgin English (sign). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I need a sign that you've turned over a new leaf (Batman & Robin; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman) Tell him if he doesn't sign the bill lowering the cable rates, we will release the video of him with the cheerleader in the Chicago motel room (Tomorrow Never Dies; writing credit: Bruce Feirstein) They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching over them (Signs; writing credit: M. Night Shyamalan) You just tell me where to sign, bud. (Dumb & Dumber; writing credit: Peter Farrelly; Bennett Yellin) The sign said 'Don't Walk' (Rain Man; writing credit: Ronald Bass) | |
Lyrics | Well, just give me the sign and I will be gone, yeahh (How Much I Feel; performing artist: Ambrosia) Cause it's so dangerous, you'll have to sign a waiver (One Week; performing artist: Barenaked Ladies) To sign on no line (Living In Sin; performing artist: Bon Jovi) Give me a sign, hit me baby one more time (Baby One More Time; performing artist: Britney Spears) Woman you want me, give me a sign (Hungry Like the Wolf; performing artist: Duran Duran) | |
Clever | When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it's a sure sign you're getting old. (references; author: Mark Twain) 1968: Peace sign. 1998: Mercedes logo. (references; author: unknown) Sign at a crematorium: Urn more. Pay less. (references; author: unknown) Sign in pet store: "Buy one dog, get one flea. (references; author: unknown) A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Sign It Death (1974) The Sign of Zorro (1958) Sign of the Pagan (1954) The Sign of the Ram (1948) Sign of the Wolf (1941) | |
Song Titles | A SIGN OF THE TIMES (performing artist: Petula Clark ) Sign `O' The Times (performing artist: Prince) Sign Your Name (performing artist: Terence Trent D'arby) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
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Books |
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Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | This is a cartoon from Harper's Weekly circa 1890. It shows an office worker, whose smoking cigar is drooping from his mouth, reading a sign on the wall: "No Smoking In Offices During Office Hours". The caption reads: "another civic-service outrage. Less smoke and more fire". Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |  | NIH: NCI Wooden Sign. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |
 | CDC Sign and Buildings 1 and 2. Credit: CDC. |  | Photomicrograph of Cryptosporidium parvum oocyts in stool smear, acid fast stain. Photograph of water fountain with sign that water is unsafe. Parasite. Credit: CDC. |
 | Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Paine Sign a Satellite Agreement. Credit: NASA. |  | Sign says 23% grade ahead White 1 and 1/2 ton truck Astro party of C.V. Hodgson. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | "A sure sign of Sunday" - White 3/4 ton truck Astro Party of C. V. Hodges. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | A sign commemorating the sponge fishing industry at Tarpon Springs. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | Erosion - ironically below a sign stating boat speed limit to minimize wake and erosion. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | Scott Base is maintained by New Zealand. Mileage sign for those interested in going home. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Train and sign" by Emily Kausalik Commentary: "Picture of a train passing by in wheaton, IL." | "Men sign" by Paul Marengo Commentary: "Men's bathroom door." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Alarm; alert; balefire; beam; bonfire; flare; guidepost; heliograph; lamp; lantern; lighthouse; lodestar; pharos; radar; rocket; rocket; sign; signal fire; smoke signal; beacon; warning signal; watchtower. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Amos Bronson Alcott | The surest sign of age is loneliness. |
Aristotle | The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching. |
Author Unknown | A sign on the door of Opportunity reads "Push." |
| A smile on the face is a sign that the heart is at home. | |
Brigham Young | Remember, a chip on the shoulder is a sure sign of wood higher up. |
Elbert Hubbard | If you suffer, thank God! -- it is a sure sign that you are alive. |
Michel Eyquem De Montaigne | The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness. |
Oscar Wilde | The sign of a Philistine age is the cry of immorality against art. |
Peter De Vries | Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
US Constitution | 1791 | And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. (reference) |
Amendment to US Constitution | 1795-2019 | The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; -- The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. (reference) |
John F. Kennedy | 1961 | So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams | Talking to yourself is a sign of impending mental collapse |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | Recognise me not, by word, by sign, by look |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The guide made a negative sign of the head, probably treacherous |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | He made the sign of the cross and prayed of the priest to bless him for he had sinned |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | There was no sign of the embankment left |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | The Governor at my request gave the sign for Caesar and Brutus to advance towards us. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The first sign is an abnormal head shape. (references) | |
Albuminuria may be a sign of kidney disease. (references) | ||
Sign language instruction has benefited others. (references) | ||
Business | A deviation from the global norm need not be a bad sign. (references) | |
They view a well-known brand name as a sign of reliability. (references) | ||
Here we see no sign of reduced interest in the vacation market. (references) | ||
Children | Kenya | KTN broadcasts some news programs in sign language. (references) |
Sweden | Deaf children have the right to education in sign language. (references) | |
Hungary | The statement followed the publication of a report by the Ombudsman's office that found that the high proportion of Romani children in "special schools" for the mentally disabled was a sign of prejudice and a failure of the public education system. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Uzbekistan | Most young men do not wear beards, which the Government regards as a sign of extremism. (references) |
Iran | Baha'is outside the country report that none of the 36 detainees would sign the document. (references) | |
Laos | Some detainees and prisoners were forced to sign renunciations of their faith as a condition of their release as well. (references) | |
Economic History | Colombia | Colombia did not sign the WTO Information Technology Agreement. (references) |
New Zealand | The New Zealand Government has yet to sign the GATT Government Procurement Code. (references) | |
India | Almost 40 percent of people who sign up find that selling is not as easy as it looks. (references) | |
Human Rights | Turkey | In some cases doctors were brought reports to sign, but no examinees. (references) |
China | Many gays and lesbians saw the move as a sign of increased government tolerance. (references) | |
Thailand | Foreign prisoners sometimes are forced to sign confessions without benefit of a competent translator. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Canada | The Federal Government negotiated interim fishing agreements with 30 of the 34 native communities in Atlantic Canada, but the Burnt Church First Nation in New Brunswick and 3 other groups in Nova Scotia have refused to sign the interim agreements and have been accused of contravening federal regulations by fishing for lobster out-of-season. (references) |
Minorities | Bhutan | Many ethnic Nepalese also were forced to sign "voluntary migration forms" wherein they agreed to leave the country, after local officials threatened to fine or imprison them for failing to comply. (references) |
Russia | This isn't a pure coincidence that Orthodox Jews and institutions are being attacked as the most visible sign of Jewish presence in Russia." Numerous other anti-Semitic incidents occurred across the country during the year. (references) | |
Political Economy | Sudan | Several other NGO's that refused to sign left the area before the deadline. (references) |
ROMANIA | The recent privatization of Sidex, the largest steel plant, is a positive sign. (references) | |
EGYPT | In September 1998, Egypt declared that it would not sign a third program with the IMF. (references) | |
Political Rights | East Timor | This was taken to be a positive sign by some of the main women's rights organizations in East Timor. (references) |
Moldova | President Voronin promulgated the law; however, he refused to sign the provision which would apply the law to the city of Chisinau. (references) | |
Somalia | In January the Prime Minister accused Ethiopia of forcing clan elders to sign statements supporting secession of the south-west region of the country. (references) | |
Trade | Eq. Guinea | Equatorial Guinea has yet to sign any multilateral free trade arrangement. (references) |
Panama | Negotiations are under way to sign trade agreements with Chile, Mexico and Central America. (references) | |
Norway | The manufacturer, the exporter, or the representative in Norway should sign the application. (references) | |
Travel | Bahamas | Since much of Bahamian social life revolves around church, an invitation to a church service is a sign of personal respect and affection. (references) |
Colombia | Businessmen traveling under a tourist visa should also be aware that contracts they sign or business they transact may be considered invalid and/or non-binding. (references) | |
Czech Rep | Also, Czechs are a more formal people than are Americans, and a serious demeanor is regarded as a sign of respect for the visitor and the business being transacted. (references) | |
Women | Indonesia | Some companies require women to sign statements that they do not intend to become pregnant. (references) |
Zambia | However, some small financial institutions reportedly allow women to sign independently for loans. (references) | |
Yemen | The husband and the wife's "guardian" (usually her father) sign the marriage contract; in Aden and some outlying governorates, the wife also signs. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Nicaragua | Similarly, management may sign collective bargaining agreements with each union. (references) |
Turkey | There are reports that criminal syndicates force women to sign work contracts which amounted to debt bondage. (references) | |
Guatemala | Union leaders were forced to sign letters of resignation from their positions in the union and from their jobs. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SCEPTER, n. A king's staff of office, the sign and symbol of his authority. It was originally a mace with which the sovereign admonished his jester and vetoed ministerial measures by breaking the bones of their proponents. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Angela Ricci | You don't have to sign anything. At least I don't remember signing anything. Now, it was a rough moment there. But just letting the doctor and the staff know that it's OK to pull the ventilator. |
Dennis Miller | If there's anyway I can have an identical carcass up on blocks out in the backyard that I can pilfer spare parts from as needed, sign me up. |
Dick Cheney | Protest to protect. I mean, that's the strength of our democracy. People can take to the streets and agree, disagree, demonstrate. As long as they're peaceful, I think it's a sign of a healthy society. |
Dick Van Dyke | We used to break up laughing. We had a terrible time the first year, looking at each other on set and starting to laugh. And a psychologist told me that's a sign of an attraction. |
Rod Steiger | I would do those for the rest of my life. I never sign with a studio really. And if I did, I would sign to do biographies. |
Rush Limbaugh | So when Jimmy Carter called and said that Kim Il Sung was a cool guy, Clinton jumped at the chance to pass more impotent UN resolutions or sign another meaningless piece of paper. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | I confidently predict-what every economic sign tells us tonight-the continued flourishing of the American economy. |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | With appropriate changes, I will sign a revised version when it comes to the White House. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | Tonight, there is every sign that the state of our Union is sound. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | As just one sign of how serious we are, we will elevate the Environmental Protection Agency to Cabinet rank. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | Then, send me the strongest possible lobby reform bill, and I'll sign it. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Sign" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 74.20% of the time. "Sign" is used about 8,005 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 74.2% | 5,940 | 1,642 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 23.6% | 1,889 | 4,526 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.18% | 175 | 23,506 |
| Total | 100.00% | 8,005 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "sign". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Etham | N/A | Biblical | Their sign |
| Ithai | N/A | Biblical | My sign |
| Ithiel | N/A | Biblical | Sign |
| Mahazioth | N/A | Biblical | Seeing a sign |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
| Country | Name | Country | Name |
| Hong Kong | First Sign International Holdings Limited | USA | Zimmerman Sign Company |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "sign": addition sign ♦ aerodrome identification sign ♦ aircraft call sign ♦ airy sign ♦ algebraic sign ♦ american sign language ♦ Anton sign ♦ Arroyo sign ♦ Arroyo's sign ♦ as a sign of ♦ at sign ♦ babinski sign ♦ Bard sign ♦ Bard's sign ♦ Barré pupil sign ♦ Barré's sign ♦ be a sign of ♦ Becker sign ♦ Becker's sign ♦ Berger's sign ♦ bivariate sign test ♦ Boston sign ♦ call sign ♦ Cantelli's sign ♦ cantillation sign ♦ caste sign ♦ Chvostek sign ♦ Chvostek's sign ♦ collective call sign ♦ Collet sign ♦ Collet's sign ♦ Crichton Browne sign ♦ Crowe sign ♦ Crowe's sign ♦ diacritical sign ♦ die and make no sign ♦ direction sign ♦ dollar sign ♦ doll's eye sign ♦ electric sign ♦ Elliot scotoma sign ♦ Elliot's sign ♦ equal sign ♦ equals sign ♦ Ewart's sign ♦ exit sign ♦ favourable sign ♦ fetch a sign ♦ first sign ♦ flat sign ♦ Gifford's sign ♦ give smb. a sign ♦ Gould sign ♦ halt sign ♦ have smb. sign ♦ having smb. sign ♦ healthy sign ♦ high sign ♦ Hodges bivariate sign test ♦ hopeful sign ♦ illuminated sign ♦ in sign of reconciliation ♦ indefinite call sign ♦ international call sign ♦ Jacquemier's sign ♦ Kantor's sign ♦ Kernig's sign ♦ Lhermitte's sign ♦ linguistic sign ♦ make a sign ♦ make a sign to smb. ♦ make no sign ♦ make someone sign ♦ matrix sign ♦ minus sign ♦ multiplication sign ♦ multiply sign ♦ negative sign ♦ Negro's sign ♦ neon sign ♦ net call sign ♦ number sign ♦ numeral sign ♦ outdoor sign ♦ percent sign ♦ percentage sign ♦ person authorized to sign for a firm ♦ plus sign ♦ poison sign ♦ positive sign ♦ pound sign ♦ prohibition sign ♦ radical sign ♦ Raynaud's sign ♦ re sign ♦ regulatory sign ♦ repeat sign ♦ road hazard sign ♦ road sign ♦ roadside sign ♦ root sign. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "sign": sign-and-magnitude, sign-based, sign-board, sign-confusable, sign-extended, sign-flags, sign-for-word, sign-group, sign-groups, sign-langauge, sign-language, sign-language-dominated, sign-languages, sign-like, sign-making, sign-of, Sign-off, Sign-on, sign-painter, sign-post, sign-posted, sign-posting, sign-posts, sign-quality, sign-systems, sign-theory, sign-to-english, sign-to-speech, sign-up, sign-value, sign-writer, sign-writers, sign-writing, sign-written, sign-wrote. | |
Ending with "sign": call-sign, v-sign. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
sign of pregnancy | 4,887 | sun sign | 577 |
zodiac sign | 4,841 | sign up | 542 |
sign | 4,523 | astrology sign | 534 |
sign language | 3,350 | peace sign | 487 |
road sign | 2,047 | star sign | 468 |
early sign of pregnancy | 1,663 | sign of depression | 463 |
hotmail sign in | 1,554 | church sign | 457 |
street sign | 1,414 | magnetic car sign | 446 |
neon sign | 1,326 | sign of labor | 445 |
american sign language | 1,302 | sign of miscarriage | 421 |
astrological sign | 1,231 | magnetic sign | 415 |
funny sign | 1,198 | mail sign yahoo | 412 |
sign compatibility | 891 | safety sign | 370 |
learn sign language | 859 | pregnancy sign symptom | 364 |
metal sign | 837 | first sign of pregnancy | 352 |
sign in | 746 | love making sign | 342 |
traffic sign | 725 | horoscope sign | 333 |
moon sign | 631 | yard sign | 321 |
stop sign | 609 | sign banner | 320 |
sign on san diego | 594 | hotmail.com in sign | 318 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "sign"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | teken (character, mark, signal, token), bewys (proof, token). (various references) | |
Albanian | simptomë (diagnostic, Mark, symptom, token), simbol (badge, denotation, emblem, ensign, insignia, notation, sacrament, symbol), shenjë (accent, aim, auspice, Beck, brand, butt, cue, denotation, denotement, earmark, ensign, evidence, exponent, fleck, foretoken, impress, index, indication, insignia, Mark, marking, obelisk, obelus, office, omen, pledge, pointer, portent, presage, prognostication, scratch, seal, signal, stamp, symbol, symptom, tally, target, token, vestige, Wale, weal), yllësi (constellation), tabelë (array, board, chalkboard, chart, facia, fascia, hoarding, signboard, table), provë (assay, audition, averment, demonstration, evidence, experiment, fact, fitting, flier, prill, probation, prolusion, proof, reasoning, rehearsal, run through, rush, school, seal, substantiation, taste, tasting, test, touch, trial, try, try on, try out, witness), nënshkruaj (back, endorse, indorse, subscribe, undersign, underwrite, underwrote), marr me kontratë, gjurmë (Dent, dint, drag, footmark, footprint, footstep, groove, impress, impression, indent, indentation, marking, print, print track, scent, slot, smell, spoor, stamp, step, tincture, tinge, trace, track, trail, vestige, vestigium), gjest (face, gesture, motion, movement), gjasë (likelihood, plausibility, probability, symptom, verisimilitude), firmos, dëshmi (attestation, bill, certificate, certification, deposition, document, evidence, licence, license, muniment, policy, proof, testimonial, testimony, witness), bëj shenjë (make notes, motion), angazhoj (book, busy, engage, recruit). (various references) | |
Arabic | تعاقد مع, شعار (banner, brand, countersign, device, emblem, motto, slogan, tag, watchword), رمز (allegory, attribute, character, code, denote, designate, emblem, ensign, figure, icon, image, indication, stand for, symbol, symbolize, telltale, token, type, typify), أشار (advert, allude, beckon, beckon in, connote, denote, designate, indicate, mark, mark out, mention, motion, point, point at, point out, read, record, refer, reference, show, signalize, suggest), أوقف البث الإذاعي, إشارة (allusion, cue, denotation, forerunner, gesture, hint, index, indication, innuendo, mark, motion, pitch, prognostic, reference, signal, tip off), إعلان (ad, advertisement, advertising, announcement, annunciation, bill, bush, declaration, exploitation, gazette, notification, pitch, placard, poster, proclamation, profession, promulgation, pronunciation, protestation, publicity, spot), إيماءة (gesture, nod), برج (castle, constellation, pinnacle, spire, tower, turret), سمة (brand, stamp, trait, type, visa, zenith), أشارة (nod, signal), وقع (be located, befall, come, come off, drop, dwell, fall, ground smb., happe |
