signifer

English

Etymology

From Latin signifer , from signum (“sign”) + ferō (“to bear”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɡnɪfə(ɹ)/

Adjective

signifer (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Bearing signs.
   • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

     the circle called Signifer, or the Zodiake

Noun

signifer (plural signifers)

1. Something that indicates or signifies; a sign, symbol, or codeword.
   • 1981, Jan Marie Lambert Peters, Pictorial Signs and the Language of Film, page 40:

     In other words: the advertiser creates a new sign of which the signifier consists of the happy face and the signified can be defined as "using this product makes (you) happy"..

   • 2013, Walter Benn Michaels, The Shape of the Signifier: 1967 to the End of History, page 60:

     Hence the commitment to the primacy of the materiality of the signifier ( to shape ) is also a commitment to the primacy of experience ( to the subject position ) . Because what something looks like must be what it looks like to someone , the appeal to the shape of the signifier is at the same time an appeal to the position and hence to the identity of its interpreter.

   • 2013, Lucy Koechlin, Corruption as an Empty Signifier, page 252:

     Although 'corruption' is still a dominant signifier in the public realm, it has all but disappeared from the public articulations of professional associations.

Anagrams

• fringies, Feringis, fire sign

Latin

Etymology

From signum (“sign”) +‎ -fer (“carrying”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsiɡ.ni.fer/, [ˈs̠ɪŋnɪfɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsiɲ.ɲi.fer/, [ˈsiɲːifer]

Adjective

signifer (feminine signifera, neuter signiferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

1. sign-bearing, image-bearing,
2. bearing the heavenly signs or constellations, starry

   "sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam." (But may the sign-bearer, Saint Michael, lead them into the holy light)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	signifer	signifera	signiferum		signiferī	signiferae	signifera
genitive	signiferī	signiferae	signiferī		signiferōrum	signiferārum	signiferōrum
dative	signiferō	signiferae	signiferō		signiferīs
accusative	signiferum	signiferam	signiferum		signiferōs	signiferās	signifera
ablative	signiferō	signiferā	signiferō		signiferīs
vocative	signifer	signifera	signiferum		signiferī	signiferae	signifera

Descendants

• Catalan: signífer
• Spanish: signífero

Noun

signifer m (genitive signiferī); second declension

1. standard-bearer, sign-bearer, ensign
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 5.585–586:

     signa, decus bellī, Parthus Rōmāna tenēbat,
     Rōmānaeque aquilae signifer hostis erat.

     The Roman [military] standards – the glory of war – a Parthian was holding, and the standard-bearer of the Roman eagle was an enemy.
     (See: Phraates V; aquilifer; signifer.)

2. leader, chief
3. the sky, heavens

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

	singular	plural
nominative	signifer	signiferī
genitive	signiferī	signiferōrum
dative	signiferō	signiferīs
accusative	signiferum	signiferōs
ablative	signiferō	signiferīs
vocative	signifer	signiferī

Descendants

• Catalan: signífer
• Italian: signifero
• Portuguese: signífero

References

• “signifer”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “signifer”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• signifer in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the zodiac: orbis signifer