Sign vs. Initial

A visible indication.

Example: ‘Their angry expressions were a clear sign they didn't want to talk.’; ‘Those clouds show signs of raining soon.’; ‘Those clouds show little sign of raining soon.’; ‘Signs of disease are objective, whereas symptoms are subjective.’; ‘The sharp sign indicates that the pitch of the note is raised a half step.’; ‘I gave them a thumbs-up sign.’;

Physical evidence left by an animal.

Example: ‘The hunters found deer sign at the end of the trail.’;

A clearly visible object, generally flat, bearing a short message in words or pictures.

Example: ‘The sign in the window advertised a room for rent.’; ‘I missed the sign at the corner so I took the wrong turn.’;

A wonder; miracle; prodigy.

(astrology) An astrological sign.

Example: ‘Your sign is Taurus? That's no surprise.’;

(mathematics) Positive or negative polarity. (Note: it is improper to place a sign on the number zero)

Example: ‘I got the magnitude right, but the sign was wrong.’;

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.

(uncountable) Sign language in general.

Example: ‘Sorry, I don't know sign very well.’;

An omen.

Example: ‘"It's a sign of the end of the world," the doom prophet said.’;

(medicine) A property of the body that indicates a disease and, unlike a symptom, is unlikely to be noticed by the patient.

A military emblem carried on a banner or standard.

To make a mark

To seal (a document etc.) with an identifying seal or symbol.

Example: ‘The Queen signed her letter with the regal signet.’;

(transitive) To mark, to put or leave a mark on.

(transitive) To validate or ratify (a document) by writing one's signature on it.

(transitive) More generally, to write one's signature on (something) as a means of identification etc.

Example: ‘I forgot to sign that letter to my aunt.’;

To write (one's name) as a signature.

Example: ‘Just sign your name at the bottom there.’; ‘I received a letter from some woman who signs herself ‘Mrs Trellis’.’;

(intransitive) To write one's signature.

Example: ‘Please sign on the dotted line.’;

(intransitive) To finalise a contractual agreement to work for a given sports team, record label etc.

(transitive) To engage (a sports player, musician etc.) in a contract.

Example: ‘It was a great month. I managed to sign three major players.’;

To make the sign of the cross

(transitive) To bless (someone or something) with the sign of the cross; to mark with the sign of the cross.

(reflexive) To cross oneself.

To indicate

(intransitive) To communicate using a gesture or signal.

(transitive) To communicate using gestures to (someone).

Example: ‘He signed me that I should follow him through the doorway.’;

(intransitive) To use sign language.

(transitive) To furnish (a road etc.) with signs.

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

Example: ‘Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.’; ‘It shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.’;

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

Example: ‘What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign.’;

Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture.

Example: ‘The holy symbols, or signs, are not barely significative; but what they represent is as certainly delivered to us as the symbols themselves.’; ‘Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory.’;

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

Example: ‘They made signs to his father, how he would have him called.’;

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.

A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard.

Example: ‘The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets.’;

The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac.

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.

Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc.

Example: ‘An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.’;

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

Example: ‘I signed to Browne to make his retreat.’;

To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign.

Example: ‘We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross.’;

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

Example: ‘Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed,And let him sign it.’;

To assign or convey formally; - used with away.

To mark; to make distinguishable.

To be a sign or omen.

To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or intelligence by signs.

To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent, responsibility, or obligation.

a perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened);

Example: ‘he showed signs of strain’; ‘they welcomed the signs of spring’;

a public display of a (usually written) message;

Example: ‘he posted signs in all the shop windows’;

any communication that encodes a message;

Example: ‘signals from the boat suddenly stopped’;

structure displaying a board on which advertisements can be posted;

Example: ‘the highway was lined with signboards’;

(astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided

(medicine) any objective evidence of the presence of a disorder or disease;

Example: ‘there were no signs of asphixiation’;

having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges);

Example: ‘he got the polarity of the battery reversed’; ‘charges of opposite sign’;

an event that is experienced as indicating important things to come;

Example: ‘he hoped it was an augury’; ‘it was a sign from God’;

a gesture that is part of a sign language

a fundamental linguistic unit linking a signifier to that which is signified;

Example: ‘The bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary’;

a character indicating a relation between quantities;

Example: ‘don't forget the minus sign’;

mark with one's signature; write one's name (on);

Example: ‘She signed the letter and sent it off’; ‘Please sign here’;

approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation;

Example: ‘All parties ratified the peace treaty’; ‘Have you signed your contract yet?’;

be engaged by a written agreement;

Example: ‘He signed to play the casino on Dec. 18’; ‘The soprano signed to sing the new opera’;

engage by written agreement;

Example: ‘They signed two new pitchers for the next season’;

communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs;

Example: ‘He signed his disapproval with a dismissive hand gesture’; ‘The diner signaled the waiters to bring the menu’;

place signs, as along a road;

Example: ‘sign an intersection’; ‘This road has been signed’;

communicate in sign language;

Example: ‘I don't know how to sign, so I could not communicate with my deaf cousin’;

make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate

used of the language of the deaf

an object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else

Example: ‘the shops are full, which is a sign that the recession is past its worst’; ‘flowers are often given as a sign of affection’;

something regarded as an indication of what is happening or going to happen

Example: ‘the signs are that counterfeiting is growing at an alarming rate’;

used to indicate that someone or something is not where they should be or are expected to be

Example: ‘there was still no sign of her’;

an indication of a disease detectable by a medical practitioner even if not apparent to the patient

Example: ‘clinical signs of liver disease’;

a miracle regarded as evidence of supernatural power (chiefly in biblical and literary use)

Example: ‘he observed signs and miracles taking place’;

the trail of a wild animal

Example: ‘wolverine sign’;

a gesture or action used to convey information or an instruction

Example: ‘she gave him the thumbs-up sign’;

an action or reaction that conveys something about someone

Example: ‘she gave no sign of having seen him’;

a gesture used in a system of sign language.

short for sign language

a symbol or word used to represent an operation, instruction, concept, or object in algebra, music, or other subjects

Example: ‘the integral sign ∫’;

a word or gesture given according to prior arrangement as a means of identification; a password.

a notice on public display that gives information or instructions in a written or symbolic form

Example: ‘I didn't see the ‘Stop’ sign’;

each of the twelve equal sections into which the zodiac is divided, named from the constellations formerly situated in each, and associated with successive periods of the year according to the position of the sun on the ecliptic

Example: ‘a person born under the sign of Virgo’; ‘a sign of the Zodiac’;

the positiveness or negativeness of a quantity

Example: ‘the last four bits hold a pattern to represent the sign of the number’;

write one's name on (a letter, card, document, etc.) to identify oneself as the writer or sender

Example: ‘the card was signed by the whole class’;

authorize (a document or other written or printed material) by attaching a signature

Example: ‘the two countries signed a non-aggression treaty’;

write (one's name) for purposes of identification or authorization

Example: ‘she signed her name in the book’; ‘she signed herself Imogen’; ‘he signed on the dotted line’;

engage (someone, typically a sports player or a musician) to work for one by signing a contract with them

Example: ‘the manager plans to sign a new goalkeeper’;

commit oneself to work by signing a contract

Example: ‘a new striker has signed for Blackburn’;

use gestures to convey information or instructions

Example: ‘she signed to her husband to leave the room’;

communicate in sign language

Example: ‘she was learning to sign’;

express or perform (something) in sign language

Example: ‘the theatre routinely puts on signed performances’; ‘the Deaf Association Choir signed the hymns’;

indicate with signposts or other markers

Example: ‘the footpath is signed by the gate’;

mark or consecrate with the sign of the cross

Example: ‘he signed himself with the cross’;

A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or medical symptoms a sign of disease.

Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.

Example: ‘Our initial admiration for their efficiency gave way to disgust about their methods.’; ‘The initial stages of a syndrome may differ vastly from the final symptoms.’;

Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word.

Example: ‘The initial letter of names is usually printed with a capital letter.’;

The first letter of a word or a name.

In plural, the first letter of each word of a person's full name considered as a unit.

Example: ‘You can get your initials printed at the top.’;

A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.

(phonology) onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.

(transitive) To sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature.

Example: ‘Please initial each page and sign the contract in full at the bottom.’;

Of or pertaining to the beginning; marking the commencement; incipient; commencing; as, the initial symptoms of a disease.

Placed at the beginning; standing at the head, as of a list or series; as, the initial letters of a name.

The first letter of a word or a name.

To put an initial to; to mark with an initial of initials.

the first letter of a word (especially a person's name);

Example: ‘he refused to put the initials FRS after his name’;

mark with one's initials

occurring at the beginning;

Example: ‘took the initial step toward reconciliation’;

In a written or published work, an initial or drop cap is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is derived from the Latin initialis, which means standing at the beginning.