English
signal
Signal comes from Old French segnal or Medieval Latin signāle, from Late Latin signālis, from Latin signum ‘sign, mark’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnomreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignum‘sign, mark’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsignālis
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1593signal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnomreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignum‘sign, mark’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsignālis
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1593signal
Earliest quotation: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “The weary sun […] / Gives signal of a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’
saw, sex, risk, section, ship, sexual, segment, sack, insect, scarlet, sawyer, sax, het, designation, shingle, sickle, dissect, scythe, seg, sedge, sich, desiccation, brassica, desiccant, assignation, 49 more
through Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’
design, sealing, resign, assign, consign, 15 more
through Latin signum ‘visible indication: sign, mark, signal’
significant, seal, significance, signify, ensign, insignia, sain, signet, sigil, signification, 9 more
Today it means
noun A sequence of states representing an encoded message in a communication channel.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *segnom / signal