Definition of Sign

Sign

1. That by which anything is made known or represented; that which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof.
2. A remarkable event, considered by the ancients as indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen.
3. An event considered by the Jews as indicating the divine will, or as manifesting an interposition of the divine power for some special end; a miracle; a wonder.
4. Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument.
5. Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture.
6. A word or a character regarded as the outward manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of ideas.
7. A motion, an action, or a gesture by which a thought is expressed, or a command or a wish made known.
8. Hence, one of the gestures of pantomime, or of a language of a signs such as those used by the North American Indians, or those used by the deaf and dumb.
9. A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard.
10. A lettered board, or other conspicuous notice, placed upon or before a building, room, shop, or office to advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm carrying it on; a publicly displayed token or notice.
11. The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac.
12. A character indicating the relation of quantities, or an operation performed upon them; as, the sign + (plus); the sign - (minus); the sign of division, and the like.
13. An objective evidence of disease; that is, one appreciable by some one other than the patient.
14. Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc.
15. That which, being external, stands for, or signifies, something internal or spiritual; -- a term used in the Church of England in speaking of an ordinance considered with reference to that which it represents.
16. To represent by a sign; to make known in a typical or emblematic manner, in distinction from speech; to signify.
17. To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign.
18. To affix a signature to; to ratify by hand or seal; to subscribe in one's own handwriting.
19. To assign or convey formally; -- used with away.
20. To mark; to make distinguishable.
21. To be a sign or omen.
22. To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or intelligence by signs.
23. To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent, responsibility, or obligation.