signified
signified noun: the concept, object or person that is referred to by a sign or signifier. Also the simple past and past participle of signify.
Noun
signified (plural signifieds)
- The concept, object or person that is referred to by a sign or signifier.
- Here things are getting better and better for women and people of color, and gay men and lesbians, more and more integrated and open, and all you can think about is some stupid, lame problem with signifiers and signifieds.2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
- In Peircean terms, topics are interpretants: signifieds that become new signifiers in the endless semiotic chain of interpretations.2012, Esti Sheinberg, Music Semiotics, page 9
Also used as
signified is also the simple past and past participle of signify.
Examples of signified in a sentence
- The part had an abradable coating the removal of which signified that replacement was necessary.
- A large proportion of the females employed in other firms are said to have signified their intention of going on strike, failing a settlement.
- This agreement really signified a change in the relationship between ʕaaḥuusʔatḥ and B.C.
Forms of signified
| plural | signifieds |
|---|
Questions about signified
- What does signified mean?
- Signified means the concept, object or person that is referred to by a sign or signifier.
- What part of speech is signified?
- Signified is a noun.
- What is the plural of signified?
- The plural of signified is signifieds.
Words near signified in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: signified (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-signified.ogg.
Cite this entry: “signified.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/signified. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.