n. [ F. signe, L. signum; cf. AS. segen, segn, a sign, standard, banner, also fr. L. signum. Cf. Ensign, Resign, Seal a stamp, Signal, Signet. ] That by which anything is made known or represented; that which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof. Specifically: (a) A remarkable event, considered by the ancients as indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen. (b) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. Rom. xv. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

It shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. Ex. iv. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument. [ 1913 Webster ]

What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. Num. xxvi. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture. [ 1913 Webster ]

The holy symbols, or signs, are not barely significative; but what they represent is as certainly delivered to us as the symbols themselves. Brerewood. [ 1913 Webster ]

Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) A word or a character regarded as the outward manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of ideas. (f) A motion, an action, or a gesture by which a thought is expressed, or a command or a wish made known. [ 1913 Webster ]

They made signs to his father, how he would have him called. Luke i. 62. [ 1913 Webster ]

(g) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Educaters of the deaf distinguish between natural signs, which serve for communicating ideas, and methodical, or systematic, signs, adapted for the dictation, or the rendering, of written language, word by word; and thus the signs are to be distinguished from the manual alphabet, by which words are spelled on the fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

(h) A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard. Milton. (i) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

(j) (Astron.) The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The signs are reckoned from the point of intersection of the ecliptic and equator at the vernal equinox, and are named, respectively, Aries (&aries_;), Taurus (&taurus_;), Gemini (II), Cancer (&cancer_;), Leo (&leo_;), Virgo (&virgo_;), Libra (&libra_;), Scorpio (&scorpius_;), Sagittarius (&sagittarius_;), Capricornus (&capricorn_;), Aquarius (&aquarius_;), Pisces (&pisces_;). These names were originally the names of the constellations occupying severally the divisions of the zodiac, by which they are still retained; but, in consequence of the procession of the equinoxes, the signs have, in process of time, become separated about 30 degrees from these constellations, and each of the latter now lies in the sign next in advance, or to the east of the one which bears its name, as the constellation Aries in the sign Taurus, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

(k) (Alg.) 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. (l) (Med.) An objective evidence of disease; that is, one appreciable by some one other than the patient. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The terms symptom and and sign are often used synonymously; but they may be discriminated. A sign differs from a symptom in that the latter is perceived only by the patient himself. The term sign is often further restricted to the purely local evidences of disease afforded by direct examination of the organs involved, as distinguished from those evidence of general disturbance afforded by observation of the temperature, pulse, etc. In this sense it is often called physical sign. [ 1913 Webster ]

(m) (Mus.) Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc. (n) (Theol.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. Bk. of Common Prayer. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ See the Table of Arbitrary Signs, p. 1924. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sign manual. (a) (Eng. Law) The royal signature superscribed at the top of bills of grants and letter patent, which are then sealed with the privy signet or great seal, as the case may be, to complete their validity. (b) The signature of one's name in one's own handwriting. Craig. Tomlins. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Token; mark; note; symptom; indication; signal; symbol; type; omen; prognostic; presage; manifestation. See Emblem. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Signed p. pr. & vb. n. Signing. ] [ OE. seinen to bless, originally, to make the sign of the cross over; in this sense fr. ASS. segnian (from segn, n.), or OF. seignier, F. signer, to mark, to sign (in sense 3), fr. L. signare to mark, set a mark upon, from signum. See Sign, n. ] 1. To represent by a sign; to make known in a typical or emblematic manner, in distinction from speech; to signify. [ 1913 Webster ]

I signed to Browne to make his retreat. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign. [ 1913 Webster ]

We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross. Bk. of Com Prayer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To affix a signature to; to ratify by hand or seal; to subscribe in one's own handwriting. [ 1913 Webster ]

Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed,
And let him sign it. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To assign or convey formally; -- used with away. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To mark; to make distinguishable. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be a sign or omen. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or intelligence by signs. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Especially: To communicate in sign language. [ PJC ]

4. To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent, responsibility, or obligation; as, he signed in red ink. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Suitable to be signed; requiring signature; as, a legal document signable by a particular person. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From signal, n.: cf. F. signalé. ] 1. Noticeable; distinguished from what is ordinary; eminent; remarkable; memorable; as, a signal exploit; a signal service; a signal act of benevolence. [ 1913 Webster ]

As signal now in low, dejected state
As erst in highest, behold him where he lies. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to signals, or the use of signals in conveying information; as, a signal flag or officer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The signal service, a bureau of the government (in the United States connected with the War Department) organized to collect from the whole country simultaneous raports of local meteorological conditions, upon comparison of which at the central office, predictions concerning the weather are telegraphed to various sections, where they are made known by signals publicly displayed. --
Signal station, the place where a signal is displayed; specifically, an observation office of the signal service. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Eminent; remarkable; memorable; extraordinary; notable; conspicuous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. LL. signale, fr. L. signum. See Sign, n. ] 1. A sign made for the purpose of giving notice to a person of some occurence, command, or danger; also, a sign, event, or watchword, which has been agreed upon as the occasion of concerted action. [ 1913 Webster ]

All obeyed
The wonted signal and superior voice
Of this great potentate. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A token; an indication; a foreshadowing; a sign; anything taken as evidence of some process. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

The weary sun . . .
Gives signal of a goodly day to-morrow. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

There was not the least signal of the calamity to be seen. De Foc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence: (Electronics) A measureable electrical quantity, such as voltage or current, that conveys information by varying in magnitude over time; as, the signals from the strongest commercial radio stations can be received over hundreds of miles. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Signaled i>or Signalled; p. pr. & vb. n. Signaling or Signalling. ] 1. To communicate by signals; as, to signal orders. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To notify by a signals; to make a signal or signals to; as, to signal a fleet to anchor. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who makes signals; one who communicates intelligence by means of signals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being signal or remarkable. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Signalized p. pr. & vb. n. Signalizing ] [ From Signal, a. ] 1. To make signal or eminent; to render distinguished from what is common; to distinguish. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is this passion which drives men to all the ways we see in use of signalizing themselves. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To communicate with by means of a signal; as, a ship signalizes its consort. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To indicate the existence, presence, or fact of, by a signal; as, to signalize the arrival of a steamer. [ 1913 Webster ]