signifying

[sig-nuh-fahy-ing]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR signifying ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

sounding¹(def 4)

Origin of signifying

First recorded in 1955–60; signify + -ing¹

Related formsun·sig·ni·fy·ing, adjective

signify

[sig-nuh-fahy]

verb (used with object), sig·ni·fied, sig·ni·fy·ing.

to make known by signs, speech, or action.

to be a sign of; mean; portend.

verb (used without object), sig·ni·fied, sig·ni·fy·ing.

to be of importance or consequence.

Origin of signify

1200–50; Middle English signifien < Old French signifier < Latin significāre to make a sign, indicate, mention, denote. See sign, -ify

Related formssig·ni·fi·a·ble, adjectiveun·sig·ni·fi·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms for signify

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR signify ON THESAURUS.COM

1. signal, express, indicate. 2. represent, indicate, denote, betoken, imply.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for signifying

represent, suggest, spell, portend, imply, manifest, convey, bespeak, symbolize, proclaim, mean, exhibit, show, sign, denote, evince, carry, connote, flash, insinuate

Examples from the Web for signifying

Contemporary Examples of signifying

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.
Dutch Treat: The Netherlands Sinks Spain In World Cup 2014
Tunku Varadarajan
June 13, 2014
So instead, Republican senators have launched an attack on Hagel filled with sound and fury but signifying very little.
Anti-Hagel GOP Effort Turns Farce
Peter Beinart
February 11, 2013
If the Arabs had just accepted Zionism (signifying their own dispossession), then World War II might have turned out differently.
Wilf’s Colonialism Denial
Yousef Munayyer
April 20, 2012
The New New Goatee can be worn at home or at the office, by the hip and unhip alike, signifying, well, just about anything.
What Does a Goatee Say About You?
Bryan Curtis
November 12, 2009

Historical Examples of signifying

She pointed toward the door, signifying that we were to go with her.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science September 1930
Various
An answer was returned, signifying that the Prince's commands should be obeyed.
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745
Mrs. Thomson
At last one of them made a motion to his mouth, signifying they were "hungry."
Three Years on the Plains
Edmund 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 Chemistry
William McPherson

British Dictionary definitions for signifying

signify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (when tr, may take a clause as object)

(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

Derived Formssignifiable, adjectivesignifier, noun

Word Origin for signify

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for signifying

signify

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]