signifying
[sig-nuh-fahy-ing]
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Origin of signifying
signify
[sig-nuh-fahy]
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- to be of importance or consequence.
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Origin of signify
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
representsuggestspellportendimplymanifestconveybespeaksymbolizeproclaimmeanexhibitshowsigndenoteevincecarryconnoteflashinsinuateExamples from the Web for signifying
Contemporary Examples
David Foster Wallace even named a chapter in his tome Brief Interviews with Hideous Men “Signifying Nothing.”
James Franco and Scott Haze on 'The Sound and the Fury' and Gawker 'Outing' Them As A 'Couple'Marlow Stern
September 6, 2014
It was a cosmic rout, signifying the end of an order, even the death of Spanish football as it is currently played.
So instead, Republican senators have launched an attack on Hagel filled with sound and fury but signifying very little.
If the Arabs had just accepted Zionism (signifying their own dispossession), then World War II might have turned out differently.
The New New Goatee can be worn at home or at the office, by the hip and unhip alike, signifying, well, just about anything.
Historical Examples
She pointed toward the door, signifying that we were to go with her.
An answer was returned, signifying that the Prince's commands should be obeyed.
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745Mrs. Thomson
At last one of them made a motion to his mouth, signifying they were "hungry."
Three Years on the PlainsEdmund B. Tuttle
He then held up two, signifying that the Father should not be divided from the Son.
Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II.Pierce Egan
The name "formic" is derived from the Latin formica, signifying ant.
An Elementary Study of ChemistryWilliam McPherson
signify
- (tr) to indicate, show, or suggest
- (tr) to imply or portendthe clouds signified the coming storm
- (tr) to stand as a symbol, sign, etc (for)
- (intr) informal to be significant or important
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French signifier, from Latin significāre, from signum a sign, mark + facere to make
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for signifying
signify
v.
late 13c., "be a sign of, indicate, mean," from Old French signifier (12c.), from Latin significare "to make signs, show by signs, point out, express; mean, signify; foreshadow, portend," from significus (adj.), from signum "sign" (see sign (n.)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Intransitive sense of "to be of importance" is attested from 1660s. Meaning "engage in mock-hostile banter" is American English black slang first recorded 1932.
...'signifying,' which in Harlemese means making a series of oblique remarks apparently addressed to no one in particular, but unmistakable in intention in such a close-knit circle. ["Down Beat," March 7, 1968]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper