1. (n.) That by which anything is made known or represented; that which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof.

2. (n.) A remarkable event, considered by the ancients as indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen.

3. (n.) An event considered by the Jews as indicating the divine will, or as manifesting an interposition of the divine power for some special end; a miracle; a wonder.

4. (n.) Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument.

5. (n.) Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifies, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture.

6. (n.) A word or a character regarded as the outward manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of ideas.

7. (n.) A motion, an action, or a gesture by which a thought is expressed, or a command or a wish made known.

8. (n.) Hence, one of the gestures of pantomime, or of a language of a signs such as those used by the North American Indians, or those used by the deaf and dumb.

9. (n.) A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard.

10. (n.) A lettered board, or other conspicuous notice, placed upon or before a building, room, shop, or office to advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm carrying it on; a publicly displayed token or notice.

11. (n.) The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac.

12. (n.) A character indicating the relation of quantities, or an operation performed upon them; as, the sign + (plus); the sign -- (minus); the sign of division , and the like.

13. (n.) An objective evidence of disease; that is, one appreciable by some one other than the patient.

14. (n.) Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc.

15. (n.) That which, being external, stands for, or signifies, something internal or spiritual; -- a term used in the Church of England in speaking of an ordinance considered with reference to that which it represents.

16. (n.) To represent by a sign; to make known in a typical or emblematic manner, in distinction from speech; to signify.

17. (n.) To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign.

18. (n.) To affix a signature to; to ratify by hand or seal; to subscribe in one's own handwriting.

19. (n.) To assign or convey formally; -- used with away.

20. (n.) To mark; to make distinguishable.

21. (v. i.) To be a sign or omen.

22. (v. i.) To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or intelligence by signs.

23. (v. i.) To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent, responsibility, or obligation.