different between sign vs name

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 1

From Middle English name, nome, from Old English nama, noma, from Proto-West Germanic *nam?, from Proto-Germanic *namô, from Proto-Indo-European *h?nómn?. Cognates include Saterland Frisian Noome, West Frisian namme, Dutch naam, German Name, Danish navn, Swedish namn, Latin n?men (Spanish nombre). Possible cognates outside of Indo-European include Finnish nimi.

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?m, IPA^(key): /ne?m/
• Rhymes: -e?m

Noun

name (plural names)

1. Any nounal word or phrase which indicates a particular person, place, class, or thing.

   Synonyms: proper name; see also Thesaurus:name

   • Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

   • 1904, L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz:

     So good a man as this must surely have a name.

2. Reputation.
   • 1952, Old Testament, Revised Standard Version, Thomas Nelson & Sons, 2 Samuel 8:13:

     And David won a name for himself.[1]

3. An abusive or insulting epithet.

4. A person (or legal person).

   • They list with women each degenerate name.

   • p. 2002, second edition of, 2002, Graham Richards, Putting Psychology in its Place, ?ISBN, page 287 [2]

     Later British psychologists interested in this topic include such major names as Cyril Burt, William McDougall, […] .

   • 2008 edition of, 1998, S. B. Budhiraja and M. B. Athreya, Cases in Strategic Management, ?ISBN page 79 [3]:

     Would it be able to fight the competition from ITC Agro Tech and Liptons who were ready and able to commit large resources? With such big names as competitors, would this business be viable for Marico?

   • 2009 third edition of, 1998, Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt, Tourism and Sustainability, ?ISBN, page 29 [4]:

     International non-governmental organisations (INGOs), including such household names as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and […] .

5. Those of a certain name; a race; a family.
6. (computing) A unique identifier, generally a string of characters.
7. (Britain, finance) An investor in Lloyds of London bearing unlimited liability.
8. Authority.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• anonymous
• cognomen
• namely
• nom de guerre
• nom de plume
• nominal
• pseudonym

Descendants

• ? Sranan Tongo: nen
• ? Japanese: ???

Translations

References

• name on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Middle English namen, from Old English namian (“to name, mention”) and ?enamian (“to name, call, appoint”), from Proto-West Germanic *nam?n (“to name”). Compare also Old English nemnan, nemnian (“to name, give a name to a person or thing”).

Verb

name (third-person singular simple present names, present participle naming, simple past and past participle named)

1. (ditransitive) To give a name to.

2. (transitive) To mention, specify.

3. (transitive) To identify as relevant or important

4. (transitive) To publicly implicate.

5. (transitive) To designate for a role.

6. (transitive, Westminster system politics) To initiate a process to temporarily remove a member of parliament who is breaking the rules of conduct.

Synonyms

• (give a name to): bename, designate, dub; see also Thesaurus:denominate

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• christen
• epithet
• moniker
• sobriquet

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Spanish ñame, substituting n for the unfamiliar Spanish letter ñ. Doublet of yam.

Noun

name (plural names)

1. Any of several types of true yam (Dioscorea) used in Caribbean Spanish cooking.

Synonyms

• cush-cush

Translations

Anagrams

• -mane, -nema, Amen, Eman, Enma, MEAN, MENA, Mena, NEMA, NMEA, amen, mane, mean, mnae, neam

Afrikaans

Noun

name

1. plural of naam

Central Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit ????? (n?man). Cognate with English name.

Noun

name

1. name

References

• "Besemah" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Cimbrian

Noun

name ?

1. (Tredici Comuni) name

References

• “name” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

name

1. (archaic) singular past subjunctive of nemen

Noun

name

1. (archaic) Dative singular form of naam

Anagrams

• amen, mane

Eastern Arrernte

Noun

name

1. grass

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Japanese

Romanization

name

1. R?maji transcription of ??

Lithuanian

Noun

name m

1. locative singular of namas
2. vocative singular of namas

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch namo, from Proto-Germanic *namô.

Noun

n?me m or f

1. name
2. fame, reputation

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• n?men

Descendants

• Dutch: naam
• Limburgish: naam, naom

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *n?ma, from Proto-Germanic *n?m?.

Noun

nâme f

1. taking
2. receiving

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Related terms

• n?men

Descendants

• Dutch: name (mostly in compounds)

Further reading

• “name”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “name (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN, page I
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “name (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN, page II

Middle English

Alternative forms

• nome

Etymology

From Old English nama, from Proto-West Germanic *nam?, from Proto-Germanic *namô, from Proto-Indo-European *h?nómn?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?na?m(?)/

Noun

name (plural names or namen)

1. name

Related terms

• surname

Descendants

• English: name
• Scots: name, naim, nem, nome
• Yola: naame

References

• “n?me, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian ????? (nâme).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n???m?/

Noun

name f

1. letter (a document)

Pali

Alternative forms

Verb

name

1. singular optative active of namati (“to bend”)

Volapük

Noun

name

1. dative singular of nam

Zazaki

Etymology

Compare Middle Persian ????????????? (n?m /n?m/).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n??me/

Noun

name (nam) ?

1. name
2. reputation