different between signal vs pointer

English

Alternative forms

• signall

Etymology

From Old French segnal, seignal or Medieval Latin sign?le; noun use of the neuter of Late Latin sign?lis, from Latin signum; verb use from 1805, as a shortened from signalize (1650s).

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?g?n?l, IPA^(key): /?s??n?l/
• Hyphenation: sig?nal

Noun

signal (plural signals)

1. A sequence of states representing an encoded message in a communication channel.
2. Any variation of a quantity or change in an entity over time that conveys information upon detection.
3. A sign made to give notice of some occurrence, command, or danger, or to indicate the start of a concerted action.
4. An on-off light, semaphore, or other device used to give an indication to another person.
5. (of a radio, TV, telephone, internet, etc.) An electromagnetic action, normally a voltage that is a function of time, that conveys the information of the radio or TV program or of communication with another party.

   My mobile phone can't get a signal in the railway station.

6. An action, change or process done to convey information and thus reduce uncertainty.
7. A token; an indication; a foreshadowing; a sign.
   • 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year

     There was not the least signal of the calamity to be seen.

8. Useful information, as opposed to noise.
9. (computing, Unix) A simple interprocess communication used to notify a process or thread of an occurrence.
10. (biochemistry) A signalling interaction between cells

Antonyms

• (useful information): noise

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• tocsin

Verb

signal (third-person singular simple present signals, present participle (UK) signalling or (US) signaling, simple past and past participle (UK) signalled or (US) signaled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To indicate; to convey or communicate by a signal.

2. (transitive) To communicate with (a person or system) by a signal.

   Seeing the flames, he ran to the control room and signalled headquarters.

Derived terms

• missignal
• oversignal
• undersignal

Translations

Adjective

signal (not comparable)

1. Standing above others in rank, importance, or achievement.

   a signal exploit; a signal service; a signal act of benevolence

Synonyms

• eminent, noteworthy, significant; see also Thesaurus:important or Thesaurus:notable

Related terms

• signature (adjective)

Anagrams

• Saling, algins, aligns, lasing, liangs, lingas

Danish

Etymology

From Medieval Latin signale

Noun

signal n (singular definite signalet, plural indefinite signaler)

1. a signal

References

• “signal” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Re-latinization of Old French segnal, from Medieval Latin signale, from Late Latin sign?lis, from Latin signum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.?al/

Noun

signal m (plural signaux)

1. signal

Related terms

• signe

Further reading

• “signal” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• lignas

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Medieval Latin signale

Noun

signal n (definite singular signalet, indefinite plural signal or signaler, definite plural signala or signalene)

1. a signal

Derived terms

References

• “signal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Medieval Latin signale

Noun

signal n (definite singular signalet, indefinite plural signal, definite plural signala)

1. a signal

Derived terms

References

• “signal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

From French signal.

Noun

signal n (plural signale)

1. signal

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From German Signal, from Medieval Latin signale, from Latin signum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??na?l/
• Hyphenation: sig?nal

Noun

sìgn?l m (Cyrillic spelling ???????)

1. signal

Declension

References

• “signal” in Hrvatski jezi?ni portal

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

signal c

1. a signal

Declension

Anagrams

• inslag, ligans, singla, slinga

Vilamovian

Etymology

From Old French segnal, seignal or Medieval Latin sign?le, noun use of the neuter of Late Latin sign?lis, from Latin signum.

Pronunciation

Noun

signal n (plural signale)

1. signal

English

Etymology

point +? -er

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??nt?/
• Hyphenation: point?er
• Rhymes: -??nt?(?)

Noun

pointer (plural pointers)

1. Anything that points or is used for pointing.
2. A teacher's pointer, pointing stick, a rod with an arrow.

   Synonym: fescue

   Hyponym: yad

3. A needle-like component of a timepiece or measuring device that indicates the time or the current reading of the device.

   Synonyms: hand, needle

5. (hunting) A breed of hunting dog, trained to point out game.
   • 2007, American Kennel Club, The Complete Dog Book, Ballantine Books (?ISBN), page 30:

     Most of the early wirehaired pointers represented a combination of Griffon, Stichelhaar, Pudelpointer, and German Shorthair. The Pudelpointer was a cross between a Poodle dog and an English Pointer bitch; the Griffon and the Stichelhaar were composed of Pointer, Foxhound, Pudelpointer, and a Polish water dog.

6. (programming) A variable that holds the address of a memory location where a value can be stored.

   Synonym: reference

   Hyponyms: dangling pointer, function pointer, null pointer
7. (graphical user interface) An icon that indicates the position of the pointing device, such as a mouse.

   Synonym: cursor

   • 1995, Aaron Marcus, Nick Smilonich, Lynne Thompson, The Cross-GUI Handbook, Addison-Wesley ?ISBN, page 231:

     The system notifies the user of the progress of a task by changing the appearance of the pointer. System-busy pointers usually adopt a timepiece metaphor.

8. (chiefly in the plural) A tip, a bit of advice.

   Synonym: advice

1. (in combinations) Something worth a given number of points.

Translations

See also

• (programming) dereference, address

Further reading

• pointer (dog) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• pointer (computer programming) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• pointer (user interface) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• pointer (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Petrino, Petroni, interop, protein, pterion, repoint, tropein, tropine

Dutch

Etymology

From English pointer.

Pronunciation

Noun

pointer m (plural pointers, diminutive pointertje n)

1. (programming) pointer

French

Etymology 1

point +? -er, from the past participle of poindre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pw??.te/
• Homophones: pointai, pointé, pointée, pointées, pointés, pointez
• Rhymes: -e

Verb

pointer

1. to point to/at
2. (by extension) to indicate, to show, to point out
3. to punch in, to clock in
4. (informal, takes a reflexive pronoun) to show up, turn up

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (to show up): arriver

Derived terms

• pointage
• pointer du doigt
• zéro pointé

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English pointer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pw??.t??/

Noun

pointer m (plural pointers)

1. pointer (dog)

Further reading

• “pointer” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Noun

pointer m (plural pointers)

1. pointer (breed of hunting dog)