Sign

Sign

A sign is a representation of an object that implies a connection between itself and its object. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm. A conventional sign signifies by agreement, as a full stop signifies the end of a sentence. (This is in contrast to a symbol which stands for another thing, as a flag may be a symbol of a nation).

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Famous quotes containing the word sign:

    Don’t pay any attention to Ah Ling. He has a mania for quoting Confucius. And Charlie Chan.
    —Joseph O’Donnell. Clifford Sanforth. Mrs. Houghland, Murder by Television, reassuring her friends after the houseboy has pointed out a sign of ill omen (1935)

    Olivia Dandridge: You don’t have to say it, Captain. I know all this is because of me. Because I wanted to see the West. Because I wasn’t, I wasn’t army enough to stay the winter.
    Capt. Brittles: You’re not quite army yet miss, or you’d know never to apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.
    Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)

    When much intercourse with a friend has supplied us with a standard of excellence, and has increased our respect for the resources of God who thus sends a real person to outgo our ideal; when he has, moreover, become an object of thought, and, whilst his character retains all its unconscious effect, is converted in the mind into solid and sweet wisdom,—it is a sign to us that his office is closing, and he is commonly withdrawn from our sight in a short time.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)