signifier

Other forms of signifier

plural

signifiers·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about signifier

What does signifier mean?

signifier means "the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something".

How many syllables are in signifier?

signifier has 3 syllables and divides as sig-ni-fier under the regular spelling rules. It is not in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, so that comes from how the word is written rather than from a recorded pronunciation, and no stress or phonetic transcription is claimed for it.

What is another word for signifier?

Close synonyms include form, word form, descriptor. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is signifier a common word?

signifier is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.