different between sign vs measure

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /sa?n/
• Homophones: sine, syne
• Rhymes: -a?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English signe, sygne, syng, seine, sine, syne, from Old English se?n (“sign; mark; token”) and Old French signe, seing (“sign; mark; signature”); both from Latin signum (“a mark; sign; token”); root uncertain. Doublet of signum. Partially displaced native token.

Noun

sign (countable and uncountable, plural signs)

1. (sometimes also used uncountably) A perceptible (e.g. visibile) indication.
   • 2000, Geoffrey McGuinness, Carmen McGuinness, How to Increase Your Child's Verbal Intelligence: The Language Wise Method, Yale University Press (?ISBN), page 38:

     The sound of the Orlando dinner train whistle reminds me that it ' s already Friday, an auditory sign. Another auditory sign, a distant thunder clap, warns me of limited computer time before our evening thunderstorm moves in.

2. (Canada, US, Australia, uncountable) Physical evidence left by an animal.

3. A clearly visible object, generally flat, bearing a short message in words or pictures.

4. A wonder; miracle; prodigy.
   • 1611, King James Version, Exodus 4:17:

     And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

5. (astrology) An astrological sign.

6. (mathematics) Positive or negative polarity, as denoted by the + or - sign.

7. A specific gesture or motion used to communicate by those with speaking or hearing difficulties; now specifically, a linguistic unit in sign language equivalent to word in spoken languages.
   • 2007, Marcel Danesi, The Quest for Meaning:

     In American Sign Language (ASL), for instance, the sign for 'catch' is formed with one hand (in the role of agent) moving across the body (an action) to grasp the forefinger of the other hand (the patient).

8. (uncountable) Sign language in general.

9. A semantic unit, something that conveys meaning or information (e.g. a word of written language); (linguistics, semiotics) a unit consisting of a signifier and a signified concept. (See sign (semiotics).)
   • 1692, Thomas Bennet, Short Introduction of Grammar ... of the Latine Tongue:

     A Noun substantive and a Noun adjective may be thus distinguished, that a substantive may have the sign a or the before it; as, puer, a boy, the boy; but an adjective cannot, as, bonus, good.

   • 1753, Charles Davies, Busby's English Introduction to the Latin Tongue Examined, page 11:

     A Pronoun is a Noun implying a Person, but not admitting the Sign a or the before it.

   • 2008, Eero Tarasti, Robert S. Hatten, A Sounding of Signs: Modalities and Moments in Music, Culture, and Philosophy : Essays in Honor of Eero Tarasti on His 60th Anniversary:

     And some linguistic signs, like “the”, “and” or “with”, may lack apparent objects, though they are clearly meaningful and interpretable.

10. An omen.

11. (medicine) A property of the body that indicates a disease and, unlike a symptom, is unlikely to be noticed by the patient.
12. A military emblem carried on a banner or standard.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English signen, seinen, seinien, partly from Old English se?nian (“to mark; sign”) and partly from Anglo-Norman seigner, seiner et al., Old French signer et al., and their source Latin sign?re (“to mark, seal, indicate, signify”); all from Latin signum (“a mark, sign”); see Etymology 1, above. Compare sain.

Verb

sign (third-person singular simple present signs, present participle signing, simple past and past participle signed)

1. To make a mark
   1. (transitive, now rare) To seal (a document etc.) with an identifying seal or symbol. [from 13th c.]

      The Queen signed her letter with the regal signet.

   2. (transitive) To mark, to put or leave a mark on. [from 14th c.]
      • 1726, Elijah Fenton, The Odyssey of Homer:

        Meantime revolving in his thoughtful mind / The scar, with which his manly knee was sign'd […].

   3. (transitive) To validate or ratify (a document) by writing one's signature on it. [from 15th c.]
      • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice:

        Enquire the Iewes house out, giue him this deed, / And let him signe it […].

   4. (transitive) More generally, to write one's signature on (something) as a means of identification etc. [from 15th c.]

      I forgot to sign that letter to my aunt.

   5. (transitive or reflexive) To write (one's name) as a signature. [from 16th c.]

      Just sign your name at the bottom there.

      I received a letter from some woman who signs herself ‘Mrs Trellis’.

   6. (intransitive) To write one's signature. [from 17th c.]

      Please sign on the dotted line.

   7. (intransitive) To finalise a contractual agreement to work for a given sports team, record label etc. [from 19th c.]
      • 2011, The Guardian, (headline), 18 Oct 2011:

        Agents say Wales back Gavin Henson has signed for Cardiff Blues.

   8. (transitive) To engage (a sports player, musician etc.) in a contract. [from 19th c.]

      It was a great month. I managed to sign three major players.

2. To make the sign of the cross
   1. (transitive) To bless (someone or something) with the sign of the cross; to mark with the sign of the cross. [from 14th c.]

      • We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross.

      • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 34:

        At the baptismal ceremony the child was […] signed with the cross in holy water.

   2. (reflexive) To cross oneself. [from 15th c.]
      • 1855, Robert Browning, Men and Women:

        Shaking a fist at him with one fierce arm, / Signing himself with the other because of Christ.

3. To indicate
   1. (intransitive) To communicate using a gesture or signal. [from 16th c.]
   2. (transitive) To communicate or make known (a meaning, intention, etc.) by a sign.
   3. (transitive) To communicate using gestures to (someone). [from 16th c.]

      He signed me that I should follow him through the doorway.

   4. (intransitive) To use sign language. [from 19th c.]
   5. (transitive) To furnish (a road etc.) with signs. [from 20th c.]
4. To determine the sign of
   1. (transitive) To calculate or derive whether a quantity has a positive or negative sign.

Derived terms

Related terms

• signal
• signature
• signet
• signify

Translations

Further reading

• sign in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sign in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• IGNs, Ings, NGIs, Sing, Sing., gins, ings, nigs, sing, sing., snig

English

Etymology

From Middle English mesure, from Old French mesure, from Latin m?ns?ra (“a measuring, rule, something to measure by”), from m?nsus, past participle of m?t?r? (“to measure, mete”). Displaced native Middle English m?te, mete (“measure”) (from Old English met (“measure”), compare Old English mitta (“a measure”)), Middle English ameten, imeten (“to measure”) (from Old English ?metan, ?emetan (“to mete, measure”)), Middle English hof, hoof (“measure, reason”) (from Old Norse h?f (“measure, reason”)), Old English m?þ (“measure, degree”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m???/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m???/
• (regional US) IPA^(key): /?me???/
• Rhymes: -???(?)
• Hyphenation: meas?ure; mea?sure

Noun

measure (plural measures)

1. A prescribed quantity or extent.
   1. (obsolete) Moderation, temperance. [13th-19th c.]
      • c. 1390, William Langland, Piers Plowman, I:

        Mesure is medcynee · þou? þow moche ?erne.

      • 1611, Bible, Authorized Version, Jer. XXX:

        I will correct thee in measure, and will not leaue thee altogether vnpunished.

   2. A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.) [from 14th c.]
      • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, V:

        Full to the utmost measure of what bliss Human desires can seek or apprehend.

      • 2009, Mike Selvey, The Guardian, 25 Aug 2009:

        They have gloried to this day, the tedious interminable big-screen replays of that golden summer irritating beyond measure.

   3. An (unspecified) portion or quantity. [from 16th c.]
      • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban (in The Guardian, 6 September 2013)[1]:

        It ended up being a bittersweet night for England, full of goals to send the crowd home happy, buoyed by the news that Montenegro and Poland had drawn elsewhere in Group H but also with a measure of regret about what happened to Danny Welbeck and what it means for Roy Hodgson's team going into a much more difficult assignment against Ukraine.

2. The act or result of measuring.
   1. (now chiefly cooking) A receptacle or vessel of a standard size, capacity etc. as used to deal out specific quantities of some substance. [from 14th c.]

   2. A standard against which something can be judged; a criterion. [from 14th c.]

   3. Any of various standard units of capacity. [from 14th c.]

   4. A unit of measurement. [from 14th c.]
      • 1993, Scientific American February 33.3:

        The fragments shrank by increments of about three kilodaltons (a measure of molecular weight).

   5. The size of someone or something, as ascertained by measuring. (Now chiefly in make to measure.) [from 14th c.]

      • The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

   6. (now rare) The act or process of measuring. [from 14th c.]

      (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

   7. A ruler, measuring stick, or graduated tape used to take measurements. [from 16th c.]
   8. (mathematics, now rare) A number which is contained in a given number a number of times without a remainder; a divisor or factor. [from 16th c.]

      the greatest common measure of two or more numbers

   9. (geology) A bed or stratum. [from 17th c.]

      coal measures; lead measures

   10. (mathematics) A function that assigns a non-negative number to a given set following the mathematical nature that is common among length, volume, probability and the like. [from 20th c.]
3. Metrical rhythm.
   1. (now archaic) A melody. [from 14th c.]
   2. (now archaic) A dance. [from 15th c.]
   3. (poetry) The manner of ordering and combining the quantities, or long and short syllables; meter; rhythm; hence, a metrical foot. [from 15th c.]

      a poem in iambic measure

   4. (music) A musical designation consisting of all notes and or rests delineated by two vertical bars; an equal and regular division of the whole of a composition; a bar. [from 17th c.]
4. A course of action.
   1. (in the plural) Actions designed to achieve some purpose; plans. [from 17th c.]
   2. A piece of legislation. [from 18th c.]

Synonyms

• (musical designation): bar
• (unit of measurement): metric

Hyponyms

• (mathematics): positive measure, signed measure, complex measure, Borel measure, ?-finite measure, complete measure, Lebesgue measure

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

measure (third-person singular simple present measures, present participle measuring, simple past and past participle measured)

1. To ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard.

2. To be of (a certain size), to have (a certain measurement)

3. To estimate the unit size of something.

4. To judge, value, or appraise.
5. To obtain or set apart; to mark in even increments.
6. (rare) To traverse, cross, pass along; to travel over.
   • 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds

     "And for a very sensible reason; there never was but one like her; or, that is, I have always thought so until to-day," replied the tar, glancing toward Natalie; "for my old eyes have seen pretty much everything they have got in this little world. Ha! I should like to see the inch of land or water that my foot hasn't measured."

7. To adjust by a rule or standard.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     To secure a contented spirit, you must measure your desires by your fortune and condition, not your fortunes by your desires

8. To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; often with out or off.

   • With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

   • That portion of eternity which is called time, measured out by the sun.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• “measure”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• measure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• measure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• measure at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Reaumes