Other forms: signed, signing, signs
A sign is a board with words or a picture on it, put where people will see it. The red circle giving the speed limit, the arrow pointing to the toilets, the OPEN card hanging in a shop door.
The other everyday sign is what you do with a pen: sign a form, sign a cheque, sign for a parcel, sign in at reception. Related patterns move the meaning: sign up for a class, sign off on a plan, a footballer signs for a club. Then there is the sign that means evidence — a sign of rain, the first signs of spring, no sign of him at the station, and that's a good sign. Sign language is a full language made with the hands, and to sign is to use it. Careful with the pair: signature is the name you write, and sign is the verb for writing it.
1nounsignA board or notice put up to give information or a warning.~2%
“The sign said the road was closed ahead.”
2nounindicationSomething that shows a thing exists, is true, or is coming.~38%
“There was no sign of him at the station.”
synonyms: indication, hint
3verbwriteTo write your name on something to make it official.~19%
“Sign at the bottom of the second page.”
4verbcommunicateTo communicate using sign language.~37%
“She signed to her brother across the room.”
5nounmovementA movement of the hand or head that carries a meaning.~2%
“He gave me a sign to keep quiet.”
6nounsymbolA written symbol standing for something, such as + or £.~2%
“Put a minus sign in front of the number.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 16 sentences found in the wild and placed 10 of them on a sense (6 were unclear) — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
Also accepted in games: road sign
Latin signum meant 'a mark; sign; token', and it reached English twice — through Old English seġn, 'sign; mark; token', and through Old French signe and seing, 'sign; mark; signature'. Between them the two arrivals pushed the native English word token off to one side. Signal is the same Latin word coming in by a different road.
Proto-Indo-European
*sekʷ-
Latin
signum — a mark; sign; token
Old French
signe
Old English
seġn — sign; mark; token
Middle English
signe
English, today
sign
Built from
From Middle English signe, sygne, syng, seine, sine, syne, from Old English seġn (“sign; mark; token”) and Old French signe, seing (“sign; mark; signature”); both from Latin signum (“a mark; sign; token”); root uncertain. a doublet of signum and signal. Partially displaced native token.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA