different between tag vs sign

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English tagge (“small piece hanging from a garment”), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian tagg (“point; prong; barb; tag”), Swedish tagg (“thorn; prickle; tine”), Icelandic tág (“a willow-twig”). Compare also tack.

Pronunciation

• enPR: t?g, IPA^(key): /tæ?/
• (North American also) IPA^(key): /te??/
• Rhymes: -æ?

Noun

tag (plural tags)

1. A small label.
2. A children's chasing game in which one player (known as "it") attempts to touch another, who then becomes "it".
3. A skin tag, an excrescence of skin.
4. A type of cardboard.
5. Graffiti in the form of a stylized signature particular to the artist.
   • 2011, Scape Martinez, Graff 2: Next Level Graffiti Techniques (page 124)

     There is a hierarchy of sorts: a throw-up can go over a tag, a piece over a throw-up, and a burner over a piece.

6. A dangling lock of sheep's wool, matted with dung; a dung tag.
7. (informal, authorship) An attribution in narrated dialogue (eg, "he said") or attributed words (e.g. "he thought").

   Synonyms: dialogue tag, speech tag, tag line

   • (Can we date this quote?),
   • (Can we date this quote?)
   • (Can we date this quote?)
8. (music) The last line (or last two lines) of a song's chorus that is repeated to indicate the end of the song.
9. (television) The last scene of a TV program, often focusing on the program's subplot.

   Antonym: cold open

   • 2006, Stephen V. Duncan, A Guide to Screenwriting Success (page 300)

     Often, the tag punctuates the "we're all in this together" theme and is topped with a laugh.

10. (chiefly US) A vehicle number plate; a medal bearing identification data (animals, soldiers).

11. (baseball) An instance of touching the baserunner with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand to rule him "out."

12. (computing) A piece of markup representing an element in a markup language.

14. (computing) A keyword, term, or phrase associated with or assigned to data, media, and/or information enabling keyword-based classification; often used to categorize content.

15. Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely.
16. A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.
17. The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.
18. Something mean and paltry; the rabble.
19. A sheep in its first year.
20. (biochemistry) Any short peptide sequence artificially attached to proteins mostly in order to help purify, solubilize or visualize these proteins.
21. (slang) A person's name.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• tagball
• tagless
• tag question

See also

(children's game to avoid being "it"):

• chasey
• dodgeball
• paintball

Translations

Verb

tag (third-person singular simple present tags, present participle tagging, simple past and past participle tagged)

1. (transitive) To label (something).
2. (transitive, graffiti) To mark (something) with one’s tag.
3. (transitive) To remove dung tags from a sheep.

   Regularly tag the rear ends of your sheep.

4. (transitive, baseball, colloquial) To hit the ball hard.

   He really tagged that ball.

5. (transitive, vulgar slang, 1990s) to have sex with someone (especially a man of a woman)

   Steve is dying to tag Angie from chemistry class.

6. (transitive, baseball) To put a runner out by touching them with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand.

   He tagged the runner for the out.

7. (transitive, computing) To mark with a tag (metadata for classification).

   I am tagging my music files by artist and genre.

8. To follow closely, accompany, tag along.
   • 1906, O. Henry, By Courier

     A tall young man came striding through the park along the path near which she sat. Behind him tagged a boy carrying a suit-case.

9. (transitive) To catch and touch (a player in the game of tag).
10. (transitive) To fit with, or as if with, a tag or tags.
    • His courteous host […]
      Tags every sentence with some fawning word.

11. To fasten; to attach.

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

Antonyms

• (computing): untag

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Aramaic ???? (“crown”). Doublet of taj.

Noun

tag (plural tagin)

1. A decoration drawn over some Hebrew letters in Jewish scrolls.

References

• tag at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• ATG, GTA, TGA, gat

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• tage (Luserna)

Etymology

From Middle High German tag, tac, from Old High German tag, tac, from Proto-West Germanic *dag, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz. Cognate with German Tag, English day.

Noun

tag m (plural taaghe)

1. (Sette Comuni) day

Declension

Related terms

• gabüarttag

References

• “tag” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Crimean Gothic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dagaz, from Proto-Indo-European *d?eg??- (“to burn”).

Noun

tag

1. day
   • 1562, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq:

     Tag. Dies.

Derived terms

• knauen tag

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse þak (“thatch, roof”), from Proto-Germanic *þak?, cognate with Swedish tak, English thack, thatch, German Dach, Dutch dak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta???/, [?t?æ?(j)]

Noun

tag n (singular definite taget, plural indefinite tage)

1. roof

Inflection

Derived terms

Related terms

• tække

Etymology 2

From Old Norse tak (“hold, grasp”), cognate with Norwegian tak, Swedish tag. Derived from the verb taka (Danish tage).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta(??)?/, [?t?æ?(j)], [?t??w]

Noun

tag n (singular definite taget, plural indefinite tag)

1. hold, grasp, grip
2. stroke (with an oar or with the armes in the water)
3. handling, control

Inflection

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English tag (since 1985).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta?/, [?t?æ??]

Noun

tag n (singular definite tagget, plural indefinite tags)

1. tag (signature of a graffiti artist)
2. (computing) tag (markup in an electronic file)

Inflection

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta(??)/, [?t?æ(?)]

Verb

tag

1. imperative of tage

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English tag.

Pronunciation

Noun

tag n (plural tags, diminutive tagje n)

1. tag

Finnish

Noun

tag

1. Alternative form of tagi

Declension

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English tag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Noun

tag m (plural tags)

1. tag

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta?k/
• Rhymes: -a?k

Verb

tag

1. singular imperative of tagen

Hungarian

Etymology 1

Of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t??]
• Hyphenation: tag
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

tag (plural tagok)

2. member
3. Synonym of végtag (“limb”)

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English tag (“piece of markup”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t??]
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

tag (plural tagek)

2. (computing) tag (a piece of markup representing an element in a markup language)

Declension

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English tag (“a piece of graffiti”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t??]
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

tag (plural tagek)

2. tag (graffiti in the form of a stylized signature particular to the artist)

Declension

References

Further reading

• tag in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

Meriam

Noun

tag

1. arm, hand

Middle High German

Alternative forms

• tac, dach (northern)

Etymology

From Old High German tag, tac, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz, whence also Old English dæ? and Old Norse dagr. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *d?eg??- (“to burn”).

Noun

tag m

1. day
2. age, lifetime
3. (politics) convention, congress
4. (in a religious context) judgement day

Descendants

• Alemannic German: Tag

  Alsatian: Dàà (north), Dàj (center), Dàg (south)

  Italian Walser: tag, tog, tàg

  Swabian: Dag

• Bavarian: Da, Dåg, Doch

  Cimbrian: tak, ta, tag, tage

  Mòcheno: ta

  Udinese: tach, ti

• Central Franconian: Daach

  Hunsrik: Daagh, taach

• East Central German:

  Upper Saxon: Dag

• German: Tag

  Esperanto: tago

• Luxembourgish: Dag, Do
• Rhine Franconian: Tach

  Pennsylvania German: Daag

• Vilamovian: taog
• Yiddish: ????? (tog)

References

Old High German

Alternative forms

• tac, tak, dac, *dag (northern)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *dag, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz, whence also Old English dæ?, Old Norse dagr, Old Dutch and Old Saxon dag, Old High German tag, Gothic ???????????????? (dags). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *d?eg??- (“to burn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta?/, /ta?/

Noun

tag m (plural taga)

1. day

   tag after tage

   day after day

Declension

Derived terms

• tagalih
  • tagalihhen
  • tagalihhes
  • tagalihhida
• ziestag

Descendants

• Middle High German: tag, tac, dach
  • Alemannic German: Tag

    Alsatian: Dàà (north), Dàj (center), Dàg (south)

    Italian Walser: tag, tog, tàg

    Swabian: Dag

  • Bavarian: Da, Dåg, Doch

    Cimbrian: tak, ta, tag, tage

    Mòcheno: ta

    Udinese: tach, ti

  • Central Franconian: Daach

    Hunsrik: Daagh, taach

  • East Central German:

    Upper Saxon: Dag

  • German: Tag

    Esperanto: tago

  • Luxembourgish: Dag, Do
  • Rhine Franconian: Tach

    Pennsylvania German: Daag

  • Vilamovian: taog
  • Yiddish: ????? (tog)

References

• Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

Polish

Etymology

From English tag, from Middle English tagge.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tak/
• Homophone: tak

Noun

tag m inan

1. (computing) tag (piece of markup representing an element in a markup language)

   Synonym: znacznik

Declension

Further reading

• tag in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• tag in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse tak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t???/

Noun

tag n

1. a grip; a hold (of something)

   Tappa inte taget

   Don’t lose your grip

   Släpp inte taget

   Don’t let go

2. a stroke (with an oar; in swimming)

   Ett tag till med åran

   One more stroke with the oar

3. a while, a moment, a minute, sec, second, tic

   Ett litet tag

   A little while, a second

Declension

Derived terms

• få tag i
• hårda tag
• i första taget
• vara i tagen

Verb

tag

1. imperative of taga.

Alternative forms

• ta

Anagrams

• ATG

Welsh

Etymology

Back-formation from tagu (“to strangle, to choke”).

Noun

tag m (plural tagau or tagion)

1. choking, suffocation

Derived terms

• llindag (“suffocation; snare; dodder; thrush”)
• tagaradr (“restharrow”)
• tagell (“gill; jowl”)
• tagfa (“choking, throttling; bottleneck”)
• taglys (“bindweed”)

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “tag”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Westrobothnian

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tak, by analogy with taga (“to take”). Also rendered as tak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t?????], [t?á??], [t????]

  Rhymes: -á??

Noun

tag n (definite singular tagjä, dative tagjän)

1. Grip, hold.
2. Advantage.

Alternative forms

• tak

Etymology 2

From Old Norse taug, tog, from Proto-Germanic *taug?, *tug?.

Noun

tag n (definite singular tagjä, dative tagjän)

1. A rope.

Synonyms

• raip

Etymology 3

Verb

tag

1. singular present of taga
2. singular imperative of taga

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