signified

sig·ni·fied

S0400725 (sĭg′nə-fīd′)n. Linguistics The concept that a signifier denotes.

[Translation of French signifié, past participle of signifier, to signify.]

signified

(ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪd) n (Linguistics) linguistics the meaning expressed by a sign rather than the physical form it is expressed in

sig•ni•fied

(ˈsɪg nəˌfaɪd)

n. Ling. the concept denoted by a signifier.

Thesaurus

Noun

signified - the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted; "the dictionary gave several senses for the word"; "in the best sense charity is really a duty"; "the signifier is linked to the signified"sensemeaning, signification, import, significance - the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous"word meaning, word sense, acceptation - the accepted meaning of a word

Translations

σημαινόμενο

Signified

the content aspect of a linguistic sign. According to F. de Saussure, a linguistic sign is a combination of “concept,” or the signified, and “sound-image,” or the signifier. In other terminology, “content” and “expression” correspond to these two concepts.

The signified is an abstract unit of the content plane, a unit that is a class of concrete “messages.” (This definition uses the terminology of scholars who define concrete sign units as combinations of “signals”—entities of the expression plane—and “messages”—entities of the content plane.) A signified is a signified only in relation to the corresponding signifier, unlike a message, which can be expressed by different signals. Thus, a given signified and a given signifier are inseparably linked.

The sign, the signified, and the signifier represent three ways of treating the same entity. The terms “sign” or “signifier” are used when the sign is considered in its entirety or in its formal aspect, respectively. The term “signified” is used when approaching the sign from the point of view of meaning.

REFERENCES

Saussure, F. de. Kurs obshchei lingvistiki. Moscow, 1933. (Translated from French.)
Obshchee iazykoznanie: Formy sushchestvovaniia, funktsii, istoriia iazyka. Moscow, 1970. Pages 96–170.
Prieto, L. J. Messages et signaux. Paris, 1966.

T. V. BULYGINA

signified

sig·ni·fied

signified

sig•ni•fied

Signified

Signified

REFERENCES

signified

Synonyms for signified

noun the meaning of a word or expression

Synonyms

Related Words