signify : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: signify	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for signify
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
signify v denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An example sentence would show what this word means" Synonym(s): mean, intend, signify, stand for convey or express a meaning; "These words mean nothing to me!"; "What does his strange behavior signify?" make known with a word or signal; "He signified his wish to pay the bill for our meal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Signify \Sig"nify\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Signified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Signifying}.] [F. signifier, L. significare; signum a sign + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Sign}, n., and {-fy}.] 1. To show by a sign; to communicate by any conventional token, as words, gestures, signals, or the like; to announce; to make known; to declare; to express; as, a signified his desire to be present. I 'll to the king; and signify* to him That thus I have resign'd my charge to you. --Shak. The government should signify to the Protestants of Ireland that want of silver is not to be remedied. --Swift. 2. To mean; to import; to denote; to betoken. He bade her tell him what it signified. --Chaucer. A tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. --Shak. Note: Signify is often used impersonally; as, it signifies nothing, it does not signify, that is, it is of no importance. Syn: To express; manifest; declare; utter; intimate; betoken; denote; imply; mean.