semiotics
Americannoun
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the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.
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a general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.
noun
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the study of signs and symbols, esp the relations between written or spoken signs and their referents in the physical world or the world of ideas See also semantics syntactics pragmatics
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the scientific study of the symptoms of disease; symptomatology
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of semiotics
Explanation
In philosophy and linguistics, semiotics is the branch of study concerned with the meanings and functions of signs and symbols. Have you ever thought about traffic lights? How did we decide red means "stop," green means "go," and yellow means "slow down" (even if most people speed up)? Traffic lights are symbolic, and the study of symbols is semiotics. Just don't get absorbed with semiotics when there are cars behind you at a traffic light!
Vocabulary lists containing semiotics
Write Makes Might: Words About Written Language
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Umberto Eco (1932-2016) Tribute List
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The Mother Tongue
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Semiotics is an analysis of how meaning is created through symbols, both linguistic and nonlinguistic.
From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022
There, snuggly positioned between various musings on queer culture and biographies of Harvey Milk, I spotted a very plain, very thin grey book: Gay Semiotics by Hal Fischer.
From The Guardian • Feb. 6, 2017
Agron keeps the top button of her cute little pastel cardigans buttoned, and if that's not symbolic I'm handing in my membership card to the International Semiotics Union right now.
From Salon • Feb. 17, 2011
They sent out a perfume that drifted through the windows of Semiotics 211.
From The New Yorker • May 31, 2010
This was published by Charles Hardwick as Semiotics and Significs.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
