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Signify   Listen
verb
Signify  v. t.  (past & past part. signified; pres. part. signifying)  
1.
To show by a sign; to communicate by any conventional token, as words, gestures, signals, or the like; to announce; to make known; to declare; to express; as, a signified his desire to be present. "I 'll to the king; and signify to him That thus I have resign'd my charge to you." "The government should signify to the Protestants of Ireland that want of silver is not to be remedied."
2.
To mean; to import; to denote; to betoken. "He bade her tell him what it signified." "A tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." Note: Signify is often used impersonally; as, it signifies nothing, it does not signify, that is, it is of no importance.
Synonyms: To express; manifest; declare; utter; intimate; betoken; denote; imply; mean.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Signify" Quotes from Famous Books



... collar, so richly wrought, with some jewel like a sheep hung by the middle attached to it, what," said the young Countess, "does that emblem signify?" ...
— Kenilworth • Sir Walter Scott

... to our distinguished countrymen who occupy high offices that their giving up will bring the struggle to a speedy end and would probably obviate the danger attendant upon the masses being called upon to signify their disapproval by withdrawing co-operation. If the titleholders gave up their titles, if the holders of honorary offices gave up their appointment and if the high officials gave up their posts, and the would-be councillors boycotted the councils, ...
— Freedom's Battle - Being a Comprehensive Collection of Writings and Speeches on the Present Situation • Mahatma Gandhi

... warning of the approach of an enemy. A fiery chain of communication extended from the Border, northwards as far as Edinburgh, and southwards into Lancashire. An Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed, in 1455, to direct that one bale should signify the approach of the English in any manner; two bales that they were coming indeed; and four bales that they were unusually strong. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Lay of the Last Minstrel," has given a vivid description of the beacons blazing through the ...
— Rides on Railways • Samuel Sidney

... the idea that the majority of the people lived in houses of a poorer construction, which have since disappeared, leaving the ruins of the houses of the nobles. There was no such class division of the people as this would signify. These ruins were houses occupied by the people in common. With this understanding, a questioning of the ruins can not fail to give us some useful hints. We are struck with their ingenuity as builders. They made use of the best material at hand. In Arizona the dry climate ...
— The Prehistoric World - Vanished Races • E. A. Allen

... (as the discerning reader will not be slow to perceive) is an abbreviation, endearing or otherwise, of the word Mathematics. Moral stands for Moral Philosophy. Prof. is a shortened form of Professor, and certif. of certificate. Plough, pluck, and spin are used indifferently, to signify the action of an examiner in rejecting a candidate for the M.A. or any other degree. It should be mentioned that the degree of B.A. is not now conferred by the ...
— The Scarlet Gown - being verses by a St. Andrews Man • R. F. Murray

... abroad the Roman name would have been rendered more glorious, the disgrace of Crassus revenged, and the Empire extended beyond the utmost ambition of our forefathers by the greatest general that ever led the armies of Rome, or, perhaps, of any other nation! What did it signify whether in Asia, and among the barbarians, that general bore the name of King or Dictator? Nothing could be more puerile in you and your friends than to start so much at the proposition of his taking that name in Italy itself, when you had suffered him to enjoy all the power of royalty, ...
— Dialogues of the Dead • Lord Lyttelton

... name of compassion was exactly what he felt himself at the end of two minutes forbidden so much as to whisper. He had been sent to see her in order to be sorry for her, and how sorry he might be, quite privately, he was yet to make out. Didn't that signify, however, almost not at all?—inasmuch as, whatever his upshot, he was never to give her a glimpse of it. Thus the ground was unexpectedly cleared; though it was not till a slightly longer time had passed that he read clear, at first with amusement and then with a strange shade of respect, ...
— The Wings of the Dove, Volume II • Henry James

... fact, the man in the fur coat was not even an American millionaire, but simply an American. It did not signify luxury, but rather necessity, and even a harsh and almost heroic necessity. Orson probably wore a fur coat; and he was brought up by bears, but not the bears of Wall Street. Eskimos are generally represented as a furry folk; but they are not necessarily engaged in delicate financial ...
— What I Saw in America • G. K. Chesterton

... been decided on, not even a single day should pass without an emperor; that the citizens' representatives present should nominate Yuan Shih-kai as the Great Emperor of the Chinese Empire; and that if they are in favour of the proposal, they should signify their assent by standing up. This done, the text of the proposed letter of nomination from the citizens should be handed to the representatives for their signatures; after which you should again address them to the effect ...
— The Fight For The Republic in China • Bertram Lenox Putnam Weale

... do so," said the king, indifferently. "You shall read me your verses; they will amuse me. Ah! it does not signify, Saint-Aignan," added the king, like a man breathing with difficulty, "the blow requires more than human strength to support in a dignified manner." As the king thus spoke, assuming an air of the most angelic patience, one of the servants ...
— Ten Years Later • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... assembled in the temple of Fidelity, close by the temple of Jupiter; the bitterest opponents of Gracchus spoke in the sitting; when Tiberius moved his hand towards his forehead to signify to the people, amidst the wild tumult, that his head was in danger, it was said that he was already summoning the people to adorn his brow with the regal chaplet. The consul Scaevola was urged to have the traitor put to death at once. When that temperate man, by no means averse ...
— The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) • Theodor Mommsen

... said of this old house, it was not a place of drafts. Its walls were thick and solid, its doors massive, and the doors and windows were snug-fitting; therefore, the fact that I now felt a perceptible rush of air could signify but one thing—that an outside door or window had ...
— The Paternoster Ruby • Charles Edmonds Walk

... his hand to signify that he understood what I wanted; and then they all took hold of the line, and, with it grasped firmly in their hands, made their way cautiously in toward the hull, we watching their movements, meanwhile, in a state of the most intense anxiety and suspense. For now that we were within ...
— The Cruise of the "Esmeralda" • Harry Collingwood

... Tuhfeh the fool. Hemca is the feminine form of ahmec, fool. If by a change in the (unwritten) vowels, we read Humeca, which is the plural form of ahmec, the title will signify, "Gift (Tuhfeh) of fools" and would thus represent a jesting alteration of the girl's real name (Tuhfet el Culoub, Gift of hearts), in allusion to her (from the slave-merchant's point of view) foolish and vexatious behaviour in refusing ...
— Tales from the Arabic Volumes 1-3 • John Payne

... formerly called [Greek: Tracheine] or the "rough place on a rock"; Formiae must be connected with [Greek: hormos] "a roadstead" or "place for casting anchor." As certain as Pyrgi signifies "towers," so certainly does Roma signify "strength," and I believe that those are quite right who consider that the name Roma in this sense is not accidental. This Roma is described as a Pelasgian place in which Evander, the introducer of scientific culture, resided. According to ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 1 • Various

... said the young girl, eagerly leading him along the corridor. "This way. I must talk with thee before thou seest Don Juan; that is why I ran to intercept thee, and not as that fool Antonio would signify, to shame thee. Wast thou ashamed, ...
— Frontier Stories • Bret Harte

... there to signify, and the loss will be comparatively small. Now then, everyone round to the big office, and let's see what we can do in the way of finding you all something to ...
— Will of the Mill • George Manville Fenn

... signify?" asked he. "There are likely to be footprints all over the place—male and female. I'll venture to say that half the residents of the street have been prowling about in this space since ...
— Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist • John T. McIntyre

... I went, but the king was charmed and satisfied. That evening we waited patiently for our fellow-slaves to get to sleep and signify it by the usual sign, for you must not take many chances on those poor fellows if you can avoid it. It is best to keep your own secrets. No doubt they fidgeted only about as usual, but it didn't seem so to me. It seemed to me that they were going ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... expression. This I can hardly credit. It seems so unworthy of a big strong nature like yours, that knows the realities of life. I told you I was grateful to you for your kindness to me. Words, now, to me signify things, actualities, real emotions, realised thoughts. I learnt in prison to be grateful. I used to think gratitude a burden. Now I know that it is something that makes life lighter as well as lovelier for one. I am grateful for a thousand things, from my good friends down to the sun and the ...
— Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (of 2) - His Life and Confessions • Frank Harris

... replied the timber-merchant. "My late brother Charles," he continued, "left three sons; but what's become of they all, or whether they be dead or alive, any of them, I can hardly tell, nor does it very much signify; for they were a set of extravagant, low-lived, drunken fellows, every one of them, and not very likely to ...
— Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 365, March, 1846 • Various

... anointing may put a king in mind of the gifts, wherewith kings should be endowed, for discharge of their royal calling. For anointing did signify the gifts of office. It is said of Saul, when he was anointed king; "God gave him another heart." And "The Spirit of God came upon him." It is meant of a heart for his calling, and a spirit of ability for government. It should be ...
— The Covenants And The Covenanters - Covenants, Sermons, and Documents of the Covenanted Reformation • Various

... of Einsiedeln (also known as Theophrastus of Hohenheim, whence his ancestors came), 1493-1541. The name Paracelsus may be a translation of Hohenheim, or may signify a claim to be greater than Celsus, the Roman physician. Appointed physicus ...
— Erasmus and the Age of Reformation • Johan Huizinga

... only be added that in reading the following pages it must be borne in mind that Mulinuu and Malie, the places respectively of Laupepa's and Mataafa's residence, are also used to signify their respective parties ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... crow" is an expression common in modern American politics to signify a reluctant ...
— Comic History of England • Bill Nye

... signify something different from this. Idealism and materialism, originally not used in any other sense, are not here employed in any other sense. We shall see what confusion arises when one tries to force another ...
— Feuerbach: The roots of the socialist philosophy • Frederick Engels

... question. After the truce has expired, they will go to war with you if you like, but they will not trouble themselves to declare whether they are fighting you as rebels or as enemies, nor will it very much signify. If their arms are successful, they will give you no explanations. If you are the conquerors, they will receive none. The fortune of war will be the supreme judge to decide the dispute; not the words of a treaty. Those words are always interpreted to the disadvantage ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... outside the building I passed along the lower rear balcony to the bath. The Annexe, like the Tiare Hotel, made no pretense to elegance or convenience. The French never demand the latter at home, and the Tahitian is so much an outdoor man that water-pipes and what they signify are not of ...
— Mystic Isles of the South Seas. • Frederick O'Brien

... the passage, and returned with the information that it was young Gay, accompanied by a very strange-looking person; and that young Gay said he would not take the liberty of coming in, hearing Mr Dombey was at breakfast, but would wait until Mr Dombey should signify that ...
— Dombey and Son • Charles Dickens

... Make no vain boast. Learned men are really very rare.' Ashtavakra said, 'True growth cannot be inferred from the mere development of the body, as the growth of the knots of the Salmali tree cannot signify its age. That tree is called full-grown which although slender and short, beareth fruits. But that which doth not bear fruits, is not considered as grown.' The warder said, 'Boys receive instruction from the old and they also in time grow old. Knowledge certainly ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli

... certainly hasn't as much distinction as would cover the point of a pin. He doesn't mind moreover what he says—the lengths he sometimes goes to!—but that," added the Duchess with decision, "is no doubt much a matter of how he finds you'll take it. And after marriage what does it signify? He has forty thousand a year, an excellent idea of how to take care of it and a ...
— The Awkward Age • Henry James

... pitching their camp near the river, being fatigued by the journey of the night and the labour of the work, are refreshed by the rest of one day, their leader being anxious to execute his design at a proper season. Setting out next day from this place, they signify by raising a smoke that they had crossed, and were not far distant; which when Hannibal understood, that he might not be wanting on the opportunity, he gives the signal for passing. The infantry already had the boats ...
— The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty-Six • Titus Livius

... electrical with this abrupt, boyish ebullition of feeling. Yet the Captain's face, as he took his seat, was as composed as if he were alone in the middle of his own wide moors. He lit a pipe and nodded to the Commander beside him to signify that as far as he was concerned the show could start as soon ...
— A Tall Ship - On Other Naval Occasions • Sir Lewis Anselm da Costa Ritchie

... when we were close up to the Black Range, safe enough, a little off the line but nothing to signify. Then we hit off the track that led over the Gap and down into a little flat on a creek that ran the same way as ...
— Robbery Under Arms • Thomas Alexander Browne, AKA Rolf Boldrewood

... the place where its central pendant rested. Again—again, good sir, I pray you! Let no faint scruples interfere with your rightful enjoyment! Cover the white flesh with caresses—it is public property! a dozen kisses more or less will not signify! So I madly thought as I crouched among the trees—the tigerish wrath within me making the blood beat in my head like ...
— Vendetta - A Story of One Forgotten • Marie Corelli

... usurpation of powers by the Federal government it was the duty of the States to "interpose," in the words of Madison, or to "nullify" the Federal law, as Jefferson phrased it. Such language seemed to Washington, Adams, and their party to signify that the time was coming when they must fight for national existence; but to the opposition it seemed no more than a restatement of time-hallowed American principles of government, necessary to save liberty from a reactionary faction. ...
— The Wars Between England and America • T. C. Smith

... the declared and decided wishes both of the crown and the people;" of "acting adversely to the crown;" and this introduction of the sovereign's name to overawe the assembly was unconstitutional in the highest degree. For, constitutionally, the sovereign has no right to signify his opinion, nor, indeed, any recognized means of signifying it but by giving or withholding his royal assent to measures which the two Houses have passed. On any bill which has not yet been passed by them he has, as ...
— The Constitutional History of England From 1760 to 1860 • Charles Duke Yonge

... know but that all of you know what it is to experience redeeming love; and if so, now can you take a person of another persuasion, and put him in gaol for a trifling sum, destroy his estate and ruin his family (as you signify the law will bear you out) and when he is careful to support the religion which he in his conscience looks upon to be right, who honestly tells you it is wronging his conscience to pay your minister, and that he may not do so though he suffer?... Is it not shame? ...
— The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut • M. Louise Greene, Ph. D.

... has two. Originally it was applied strictly to flying men, and it was reserved to signify an aviator who had brought down his fifth enemy machine. Had he brought down only four he was a gallant fellow enough, but he was not an "as." One more and he was an ace of diamonds, that card being the fifth honour in most French games ...
— A Boswell of Baghdad - With Diversions • E. V. Lucas

... weather the fox will sometimes elude the hound, at least delay him much, by taking to a bare, ploughed field. The hard, dry earth seems not to retain a particle of the scent, and the hound gives a loud, long, peculiar bark, to signify he has trouble. It is now his turn to show his wit, which he often does by passing completely around the field, and resuming the trail again where it crosses the fence or ...
— Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers • John Burroughs

... you reach a certain age, you wake up and would like to move. But it is impossible; your hands and arms are caught in inextricable folds. It is God Himself who holds you fast, and remorseless opinion is looking on, ready to laugh if you signify that you are tired of the toys which amused you as a child. It would be nothing if there was only public opinion to brave. But the pity is that all the softest ties of your life are woven into the web that entangles you, and you must pluck out one-half of ...
— Recollections of My Youth • Ernest Renan

... the—an' thass anotheh thing I like—'tis faw the ladies to 'ing bells that way on the balconies. Because Mr. Bell and Eve'et is name bell, and so is the bells name' juz the same way, and so they 'ing the bells to signify. I had to elucidate that to my ...
— Dr. Sevier • George W. Cable

... afterwards, the winning of the woman is enough to pay for life, death, pain, or anything else. One of the most remarkable phenomena of the illusion is the supreme indifference to consequences—at least to any consequences which would not signify moral shame or loss of honour, Of course the poet is supposed to consider the emotion only in generous natures. But the subject of this splendid indifference has been more wonderfully treated by Victor Hugo than by Tennyson—as we shall see later on, when ...
— Books and Habits from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn • Lafcadio Hearn

... republic exists to-day because France helped us when England sought to crush us. It is never amiss to freshen our memories as to these historic facts. The symbolism of the colossus would therefore be very fine; it would have a meaning which every one could understand. It would signify not only the amity of France and the United States, and the republican idea of brotherhood and freedom, as I have said; but it would also stand for American hospitality to the European emigrant, and Emma Lazarus has thus imagined the colossus ...
— The Bay State Monthly - Volume 2, Issue 3, December, 1884 • Various

... had their sons concealed in a proper place out of the city, that they might carry news to David of what was transacted. Accordingly, they sent a maid-servant, whom they could trust, to them, to carry the news of Absalom's counsels, and ordered them to signify the same to David with all speed. So they made no excuse nor delay, but taking along with them their fathers' injunctions, because pious and faithful ministers, and judging that quickness and suddenness was the best mark of faithful service, they made haste to meet with David. But certain horsemen ...
— The Antiquities of the Jews • Flavius Josephus

... none of your snuff in it,' said Mrs Prig. 'In gruel, barley-water, apple-tea, mutton-broth, and that, it don't signify. It stimulates a patient. But I don't ...
— Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit • Charles Dickens

... "She did not signify the amount. I just ate till I couldn't get down another one. I sha'n't want to see another string bean ...
— Ruth Fielding At College - or The Missing Examination Papers • Alice B. Emerson

... word of Greek origin, employed in the calendar to signify the moon's age at the beginning of the year. [v.04 p.0995] The common solar year containing 365 days, and the lunar year only 354 days, the difference is eleven; whence, if a new moon fall on the 1st of January in any year, the moon ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 - "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" • Various

... (the latter being wrongly called Absolute). By connotative are meant, not (as Mr. James Mill explains it) words which, pointing directly to one thing, tacitly refer to another, but words which denote a subject and imply an attribute; while non-connotatives signify a subject only, or attribute only. All concrete general names are connotative. They are also called denominative, because the subject denoted receives a common name (e.g. snow is named white) from the attribute connoted. Even some abstracts are connotative, for attributes ...
— Analysis of Mr. Mill's System of Logic • William Stebbing

... their passions in the same object at that particular time. Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog. Nobody ever saw one animal, by its gestures and natural cries signify to another, this is mine, that yours; I am willing to give this for that. When an animal wants to obtain something either of a man, or of another animal, it has no other means of persuasion, but to gain the favour of those whose service it requires. A puppy fawns upon its dam, ...
— An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations • Adam Smith

... animal, sir,' John whispered in his ear with dignity. 'You'll excuse him, I'm sure. If he has any soul at all, sir, it must be such a very small one, that it don't signify what he does or doesn't in that way. Good ...
— Barnaby Rudge • Charles Dickens

... admit that, in all literature which the world will not willingly let die, there must be expressed something worth expressing. The matter must be, in some way, of interest. But it appears to signify little how it interests. It may be enlightening, elevating, or inspiriting: it may be profoundly touching: it may be of a fine or gracious sentiment or fancy: it may be startling: it may be simply entertaining. Some people, perhaps, remembering certain French ...
— Platform Monologues • T. G. Tucker

... paper stamped with a design bearing your name. You paste it in the front of your books. See my design? The tall pine trees on either side mean friendship; the rocks underneath signify that my friendships have a firm foundation. The letters underneath read, 'Migwan, Her Book.' You have to carve the letters backward so they will print forward. The feather design around the letters is made from my symbol, ...
— The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods - Or, The Winnebagos Go Camping • Hildegard G. Frey

... the hill, over against the plantation, with his train of about sixty men. Squanto went to him and brought a message that one should be sent to parley with him, and Master Edward Winslow went, to know hisnmind, and signify the wish of the Governor to have trading and peace with him, the Governor sending presents to the king and his brother, with something to ...
— The Mayflower and Her Log, Complete • Azel Ames

... decree ourselves, that since we also are in confederacy with the Romans, we would do every thing we could for the Jews, according to the senate's decree. Theodorus also, who brought the epistle, desired of our praetors, that they would send Hyrcanus a copy of that decree, as also ambassadors to signify to him the affection of our people to him, and to exhort them to preserve and augment their friendship for us, and be ready to bestow other benefits upon us, as justly expecting to receive proper requitals from us; and desiring them to remember ...
— The Antiquities of the Jews • Flavius Josephus

... desire." There is a special word in the Tahitian language to signify HUNGERING AFTER FISH. I may remark that here is one of my chief difficulties about the whole story. How did king, commons, women, and all come to eat together at this feast? But it troubled none of my numerous authorities; so there must certainly ...
— Ballads • Robert Louis Stevenson

... this signify to England? She has gained her object. We are no longer at Boulogne, and her subsidy will be ...
— The Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte • Bourrienne, Constant, and Stewarton

... the pragmatist and anti-pragmatist warfare is over what the word 'truth' shall be held to signify, and not over any of the facts embodied in truth-situations; for both pragmatists and anti- pragmatists believe in existent objects, just as they believe in our ideas of them. The difference is that when the pragmatists speak of truth, they ...
— The Meaning of Truth • William James

... in, and he himself though he sojourned in the vicinity of Albanum and Tusculum did not enter the City; the consuls, Lucius Vitellius and Fabius Persicus, celebrated the second ten-year period. The senators so termed it in preference to "twenty-year period" to signify that they were granting him the leadership of the State again, as had been done in the case of Augustus. Punishment overtook them at the same time that they were celebrating the appropriate festival. This time none of those accused was acquitted, but ...
— Dio's Rome, Vol. 4 • Cassius Dio

... word almost scornfully. "'T is a phrase so lightly spoken that I scarce know what it may signify to you. You love some one then, Monsieur?" and she looked up at ...
— When Wilderness Was King - A Tale of the Illinois Country • Randall Parrish

... paid,—and there's my green satin with point-lace yet to come home." And Miss Katy-did shrugged her shoulders and affected to be very busy with Colonel Katy-did, in just the way that young ladies sometimes do when they wish to signify to visitors that they had ...
— The Junior Classics Volume 8 - Animal and Nature Stories • Selected and arranged by William Patten

... existence are duly considered, and struggling life is regarded as striving mightily after conscious freedom and independence of thought, only then does music seem to be a riddle in this world. Should one not answer: Music could not have been born in our time? What then does its presence amongst us signify? An accident? A single great artist might certainly be an accident, but the appearance of a whole group of them, such as the history of modern music has to show, a group only once before equalled on earth, ...
— Thoughts out of Season (Part One) • Friedrich Nietzsche

... perfect reproduction of the head of Christ with its crown of thorns. He called in his neighbors to witness the miracle, and declared that while he was not superstitious, he knew that such a thing could not have happened by chance, and he knew what it was intended to signify—he would buy more Liberty Bonds and be more ardent in ...
— The Profits of Religion, Fifth Edition • Upton Sinclair

... us which they have heard from their forefathers, yet the deluges and combustions of the earth, which must necessarily happen at their destined periods, will prevent our obtaining, not only an eternal, but even a durable glory. And, after all, what does it signify whether those who shall hereafter be born talk of you, when those who have lived before you, whose number was perhaps not less, and whose merit certainly greater, were not so much ...
— Cicero's Tusculan Disputations - Also, Treatises On The Nature Of The Gods, And On The Commonwealth • Marcus Tullius Cicero

... words signify the preferences of the authorities under which they stand. The figure 1 indicates the preferred pronunciation, or first choice; 2 indicates the second choice; 3, the third choice, etc. In all the authorities quoted the order of preference of the author is assumed to be indicated ...
— A Manual of Pronunciation - For Practical Use in Schools and Families • Otis Ashmore

... Karin to lend him a sheet to hang for a few days before the opening of the watch-house, as the structure was familiarly called in the family. Sven and Thor gave each other significant punches as the request was granted, to signify that no sheet would have been loaned to them; which was no doubt a fact, as they were not much to be relied on for discretion ...
— The Golden House • Mrs. Woods Baker

... impulse in that freedom of inquiry which Christianity fosters."[2] Christian scholars began the investigations, formulated the principles, collected the materials and reared the already splendid fabric of the science of Comparative Religion, because the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify this. Jesus bade his disciples search, inquire, discern and compare. Paul, the greatest of the apostolic Christian college, taught: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." In our day one of Christ's loving followers[3] ...
— The Religions of Japan - From the Dawn of History to the Era of Meiji • William Elliot Griffis

... dreamed that he saw awa, pressed out the juice, and his spirit drank it. The first three dreams, pertaining to food, Waikelenuiaiku interpreted unfavorably, and told the dreamers they must prepare to die. The fourth dream, pertaining to drink, he interpreted to signify deliverance and life. The first three dreamers were slain according to the interpretation, and the fourth was delivered and saved. Afterward this last dreamer told Kamohoalii, the king of the land, how ...
— Hawaiian Folk Tales - A Collection of Native Legends • Various

... Zoroaster with the word "astron." Among modern writers, H. Rawlinson derived it from the Assyrian Ziru-Ishtar, "the seed of Ishtar," but the etymology now most generally accepted is that of Burnouf, according to which it would signify "the man with gold-coloured camels," the "possessor of tawny camels." The ordinary Greek form Zoroaster seems to be derived from some name ...
— History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 9 (of 12) • G. Maspero

... hung up the 'phone, his forehead wrinkled into little lines of absorbed concentration. He sat at his desk for fully five minutes almost motionless, trying to figure it out. What did the accident to Dean signify? How was the sudden disappearance of Jane Strong to be accounted for? Had she fled from the scene after Dean was disabled, fearing that her name might be coupled with his in an account of the accident? It did not seem like ...
— The Apartment Next Door • William Andrew Johnston

... equally true in all the other cases. Antigone's heroism will evaporate;[25] she will be left obstinate only. The lives of Macbeth and Hamlet will be tales of little meaning for us, though the words are strong. They will be full of sound and fury, but they will signify nothing. What they produce in us will be not interest but a kind of wondering weariness—weariness at the weary fate of men who could 'think so brainsickly of things.' So in like manner will all the emphasis and elaboration in the ...
— Is Life Worth Living? • William Hurrell Mallock

... innocent amusement? And they do so love that 'Mary Jane'! Besides, what's in a name, anyway?" he went on, eyeing the glowing tip of the cigar between his fingers. "'A rose by any other name—'—you've heard that, probably. Names don't always signify, my dear fellow. For instance, I know a 'Billy'—but he's ...
— Miss Billy's Decision • Eleanor H. Porter

... good school for a year or two," was the answer: "it would be painful to decide on such a step; but nothing can signify to us in comparison with Julia's health." I did not hear any more, but, snatching up my bonnet, I rushed along the verandah till I came to its farthest extremity. I knelt, and leant my head against the ...
— Ellen Middleton—A Tale • Georgiana Fullerton

... were anxious to know whether a canoe could be procured, we spent little time over our repast, and again set off along the bank of the igarape. We inquired at each of the huts we passed about a canoe, but Duppo invariably shook his head, to signify that he could not hear of one. Still we went on, searching in every spot where he thought a canoe might be concealed. After some time, finding a tree bending almost horizontally over the water, we climbed along ...
— On the Banks of the Amazon • W.H.G. Kingston

... signify, unless that Voltaire feels it may be thought extraordinary that he should dedicate his work to a woman who possesses but a small share of the public esteem, and that the sentiment of gratitude must plead his ...
— The Memoirs of Louis XV. and XVI., Volume 1 • Madame du Hausset, and of an Unknown English Girl and the Princess Lamballe

... yet," said the General. "She is ten years old. That need not signify, however. The engagement can be made just as well. I free the estate from all its encumbrances; and as she will eventually be a Chetwynde, it will be for her sake as well as your son's. There ...
— The Cryptogram - A Novel • James De Mille

... platforms of wood, whereon they all stood and spoke at once, both men and women. And of these some wore red crosses on their garments, which meaneth "Salvation;" and others wore white crosses, with a little black button of crape, to signify "Purity;" and others bits of blue to mean "Abstinence." While some of these pursued Panurge others did beset Pantagruel; asking him very long questions, whereunto he gave but short answers. Thus ...
— Letters to Dead Authors • Andrew Lang

... his weapon so that it would not interfere, the General sagged down in his chair, and puffing from his exertion and excitement, looked into the faces of his friends to signify that he was now ready to listen to their sentiments. A brief silence followed, and then Major Starland said in an ...
— Up the Forked River - Or, Adventures in South America • Edward Sylvester Ellis

... grasping it with both hands, he pushed it close to the edge, and then peeped over. The soldier was some yards from the plumb. Jack looked down at the shrubbery for guidance. The smith raised his hand to signify patience. Jack waited. Breathlessly the ambushed party watched the two soldiers, who were now talking together. Would they never return to their doors? Five anxious minutes passed, and then, with a look round, Jack's man began ...
— The Slowcoach • E. V. Lucas

... Baskets. When an excavation was made in ancient India it was the custom to pass up the earth in baskets along a line of workmen[603] and the metaphorical use of the word seems to be taken from this practice and to signify transmission by tradition. ...
— Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol I. (of 3) - An Historical Sketch • Charles Eliot

... Neumann, (Tuebinger Zeitschrift, 1872, p. 288 ff.) objects, that even the abstract value of a commodity always suggests the relation of a definite number of concrete men to a definite quantity of goods; else, by the expression, value of goods, is to be understood not what it is generally meant to signify, but only the capacity ...
— Principles Of Political Economy • William Roscher

... have made use of the term "diluvian," because it has been adopted by geologists, but without meaning to identify the cause of the formations with the deluge described in the sacred writings. I apply the term merely to signify loose and water-worn strata not at all consolidated, and deposited by an inundation of water, and in these countries which they have covered man certainly did not exist. With respect to your argument derived from New Holland, it appears to ...
— Consolations in Travel - or, the Last Days of a Philosopher • Humphrey Davy

... obey'd the Precepts of Christ. No Book would be plainer or more intelligible to them than the Gospel; and without consulting either Fathers or Councils, they would be satisfied, that mortifying the Flesh never could signify to indulge every Appetite, not prohibited ...
— A Letter to Dion • Bernard Mandeville

... that Mok had had three glasses of beer, and when he should finish the one in his hand, and should order another, the waiter would bring with it another little white plate, which he would put on the table, on the pile already there, and which would signify that the African gentleman must pay for four glasses ...
— The Adventures of Captain Horn • Frank Richard Stockton

... leave you so, as a technical school may leave you. This, at least, is pretended; this is what we hear among college-trained people when they compare their education with every other sort. Now, exactly how much does this signify? ...
— English Prose - A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice • Frederick William Roe (edit. and select.)

... rebuked in others, he had felt in himself, and fought it to the death-grip, as the flash and quiver of that worn face proclaimed.... But yet, why were the Edomites, by an utterly mistaken pun on their name, to signify one sort of sin, and the Ammonites another, and the Amalekites another? What had that to do with the old psalm? What had it to do with the present auditory? Was not this the wildest and lowest form of that unreal, subtilising, mystic ...
— Hypatia - or, New Foes with an Old Face • Charles Kingsley

... listened to her and felt it her duty to signify her assent, in spite of the task being no easy one ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin

... be added two more, which signify a mart, viz. Cheap or Chipp (cf. Chepstow, Chipping Barnet) and Staple, whence Huxtable, Stapleton, etc. Liberty, that part of a city which, though outside the walls, shares in the city privileges, and ...
— The Romance of Names • Ernest Weekley

... sacrifices performed by human beings; and as regards human beings, their food is supplied by the Earth. Superior and inferior creatures, therefore, are all supported by the earth; the Earth then is their refuge. The word Earth in these slokas is sometimes used to signify the world and sometimes the element of ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli

... Aquileia to-day are a museum of Roman antiquities, which I had not time to visit, and a large church, with a bare interior, but with a magnificent eleventh century mosaic floor, one of the best examples of its kind in Italy. The interior of the church was decorated with flowers in shell cases, to signify its reconquest by the Italians, who intend to make here a great national memorial when the war is over. Beside the church, at its eastern end, stood a glorious group of very tall cypresses, one of the best groups ...
— With British Guns in Italy - A Tribute to Italian Achievement • Hugh Dalton

... struck, if not in striking it. The ear is cultivated sooner than the voice, and they may be taught to name the octave as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and their imaginations impressed by drawing a ladder of eight rounds on the blackboard, to signify that the voice rises by regular gradation. This will fix their attention, and their interest will not flag, if the ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 61, November, 1862 • Various

... PM. Gave her a Gun in hopes to bring her too, to know who she was, but she did not mind it neither hoisted any Colours. she bore down upon Us, then takt and bore away. We fired 10 Shott but all did not Signify for she hug'd her Wind[48] and it Growing dark and having a Good pair of heels we lost Sight of her. We imagined it was a No'ward Schooner both by her built and Course, But lett her be what she will she had a brave fellow for a Com'r. Opened ...
— Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period - Illustrative Documents • Various

... with the mind of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the matter; therefore I need not dwell further on the subject. I would, however, here remark concerning the meaning of revelation, that the present method only teaches us what the prophets really saw or heard, not what they desired to signify or represent by symbols. The latter may be guessed at but cannot be inferred ...
— The Philosophy of Spinoza • Baruch de Spinoza

... near me, that he broke his cord, threw himself at my feet, with his head against the ground, as if he meant to excite my compassion, conjuring me not to be so cruel as to take his life; and did as much as was possible for him, to signify that ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments Complete • Anonymous

... looking toward the door every time any one came in, and fervently hoping that Mr. Cheever might show up; for if he came it would doubtless signify that he had been successful in his ...
— Dick the Bank Boy - Or, A Missing Fortune • Frank V. Webster

... assumed these names, good, modest, true, rational, a man of equanimity, and magnanimous, take care that thou dost not change these names; and if thou shouldst lose them, quickly return to them. And remember that the term Rational was intended to signify a discriminating attention to every several thing, and freedom from negligence; and that Equanimity is the voluntary acceptance of the things which are assigned to thee by the common nature; and that Magnanimity is the elevation of the intelligent ...
— The Thoughts Of The Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus • Marcus Aurelius

... under way from her factory, and will meander along in the course of the year. Considerin' this as a sample—I think, gentlemen," he added, with gloomy precision, "we are prepared to accept it, and signify we'll ...
— Openings in the Old Trail • Bret Harte

... lying about it [meaning the land bearing so much, at a valuation], though I should sell other lands to do it. I have no house, and it lies within half-a-mile of my land; and all that business would be extremely convenient for me, and signify not much to my Lord Chancellor, especially seeing I am willing to buy the land. I would take this for the greatest favour in the world, for I cannot have the patience to build and plant." Claverhouse to Queensberry, March ...
— Claverhouse • Mowbray Morris

... believe them to have this significance. Angular, strong, interrupted eyebrows denote fire and productive activity. The nearer the eyebrows to the eyes, the more earnest, deep, and firm the character. Eyebrows remote from each other denote warm, open, quick sensations. White eyebrows signify weakness; and dark brown, firmness. The motion of the eyebrows contains numerous expressions, especially of ...
— The World's Greatest Books - Volume 15 - Science • Various

... and, after a private conversation with her mother, went to greet Andrew. If only to signify her contempt for Godwin's prejudices, Charlotte would have behaved civilly to the London uncle. In the end, Andrew took his leave in the friendliest possible way, repeating often that he would soon have the pleasure of entertaining ...
— Born in Exile • George Gissing

... is that no evil which one man may do to another is of any moment, since he cannot touch his soul which is eternal and beyond the reach of any human power! In the destiny of a soul what can the destruction of one of its bodies signify? This is an argument which is subversive of morality and ...
— India's Problem Krishna or Christ • John P. Jones

... gained an entree were always welcome. In studying the character of the noted salons, one is struck with a certain unity that could result only from natural growth about a nucleus of people bound together by many ties of congeniality and friendship. Society, in its best sense, does not signify a multitude, nor can a salon be created on commercial principles. This spirit of commercialism, so fatal to modern social life, was here conspicuously absent. It was not at all a question of debit and credit, of formal invitations ...
— The Women of the French Salons • Amelia Gere Mason

... Hymns follow and a brief, fervid talk on the year coming and its opportunities, of the record each will write on the clean white page in the book of life to be turned so soon. As midnight approaches, every church member is asked to signify his re-dedication to God and His service by standing. Then the solemn question is put to others present if they do not want to give themselves to God, not only for the coming year, but for all years. As twelve o'clock strikes, all bow in silent prayer while the ...
— Russell H. Conwell • Agnes Rush Burr

... place it in the mouth outside of the gums and rub earnestly for two or three minutes. 'Will you dip with me?' is the usual way of putting the invitation, when the box is drawn from the pocket and rapped slightly on the cover, sometimes by all present, who thus signify their readiness to 'dip,' then it is repassed open to all, and the 'dipping and rubbing' ...
— Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce • E. R. Billings

... mournful streamer shall be plac'd, Wrought with the Persian and th' [108] Egyptian arms, To signify she was a princess born, And wife unto the monarch of ...
— Tamburlaine the Great, Part II. • Christopher Marlowe

... as there's only monkeys and jaguars, and sich like to see me, it don't much signify; but my moustaches is gittin' mighty long, for I've been two ...
— Martin Rattler • R.M. Ballantyne

... to herself that what she felt for the baron was love of a certain kind, and that at the foundation of things there is no other love, and if there is any other kind it does not signify much, for each kind passes quickly. She began in general to attach less and less weight to that side of life, and also life itself had for her a charm which was continually decreasing. In the gloom of weariness, and the apathy into which she was falling, that which connected her with the baron ...
— The Argonauts • Eliza Orzeszko (AKA Orzeszkowa)

... way there be, and direct your aery passage into the groves [195-230]where the rich bough overshadows the fertile ground! and thou, O goddess mother, fail not our wavering fortune.' So spoke he and stayed his steps, marking what they signify, whither they urge their way. Feeding and flying they advance at such distance as following eyes could keep them in view; then, when they came to Avernus' pestilent gorge, they tower swiftly, and sliding down through the liquid air, choose ...
— The Aeneid of Virgil • Virgil

... temple, that though they were still, stones should cry, and by stones he understandeth heathen men, that worshipped stones for their gods. And we English men be come of heathen men, therefore we be understood by these stones, that should cry holy writ, and as Jews, that is interpreted knowledging, signify clerks, that should knowledge to God, by repentance of sins, and by voice of God's hearing, so our lewd men, suing the corner-stone Christ, may be signified by stones, that be hard and abiding in the foundation; for though covetous clerks be wood ...
— Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse • Various

... round at regular intervals between the packing rings and body of the piston, are employed, the centre of each spring being secured by a steady pin or bolt screwed into the side of the piston; but it will not signify much what kind of springs is used, provided they have sufficient tension. When pistons are made of a single ring, or of a succession of single rings, the strength of each ring should be tested previously to its introduction into the piston, by means ...
— A Catechism of the Steam Engine • John Bourne

... left near the unfortunate wretch, and devoured too eagerly, perhaps, after long days of abstinence, been the cause of his death? Or was not this rather the fatal denouement of an ended life, worn away by labour and privation? However, what did the cause signify? Death had come and delivered the poor man. "It isn't he that I pity," Pierre muttered at last; "it is we—we who witness all that, we who are ...
— The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete - Lourdes, Rome and Paris • Emile Zola

... I looked back on the happenings of the two hours that had elapsed since Jervaise had fetched me out of the improvised buffet, I was still greatly puzzled to account for his marked choice of me as a confidant. It was a choice that seemed to signify some weakness in him. I wondered if he had been afraid to trust himself alone with Anne at the Farm; if he were now suffering some kind of trepidation at the thought of the coming interview with his ...
— The Jervaise Comedy • J. D. Beresford

... took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for ...
— The Dore Gallery of Bible Illustrations, Complete • Anonymous

... influence with the government that succeeded us, have brought things to this pass, that we have reason to believe our claim would be conceded, if some of the foreign governments, and especially the government of this country, would signify that the settlement would not be disagreeable to them." And the prince ceased, and raising his eyes, which were downcast as he spoke, looked Mr. Wilton straight in ...
— Endymion • Benjamin Disraeli

... again, scarlet with anger, jerked her arm at Maurice, to signify that he might do the rest for himself, and, retreating into her kitchen, slammed the door. Left thus, with no alternative, Maurice drew his heels together, gave the customary rap, ...
— Maurice Guest • Henry Handel Richardson

... in South London was converted into an asylum for the insane who were at the time called "lunatics." The name Bedlam is a corruption of the Hebrew "Bethlehem"—meaning the House of Bread—and while the name popularly came to signify a noisy place it was the beginning of really scientific treatment for the tragically afflicted insane. While the treatment of the insane in Europe was being steadily raised to a higher plane of efficiency, America has also ...
— A Psychiatric Milestone - Bloomingdale Hospital Centenary, 1821-1921 • Various

... singular that such an obscure byword among sailors should have become one of the most popular in our familiar style; and not less, that recently at the bar, in a court of law, its precise meaning perplexed plaintiff and defendant and their counsel. I think it does not signify mere lies, but bouncing ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli

... he's weak and hungry, and the high places are feet deep in drifts. It doesn't signify. I'm corralled any way you look at it, and the only thing left ...
— They of the High Trails • Hamlin Garland

... Government, and the eventual loyalty of the people to the just principles upon which it is founded, and, above all, with an unshaken faith in the Supreme Ruler of Nations, I accept this trust. Be pleased to signify this to the respective Houses ...
— Fifty Years of Public Service • Shelby M. Cullom

... it over in her room that evening vague and baffling doubts came drifting across this conviction. She doubted how she stood toward him and what the restrained gleam of his face might signify. She felt that perhaps, in her desire to play an adequate part in the conversation, she had talked rather more freely than she ought to have done, and given him a wrong impression ...
— Ann Veronica • H. G. Wells

... minstrel performance, which I understood was to be an entertainment wherein the participants darkened themselves to resemble blackamoors. Naturally, I did not attend, it being agreed that the best people should signify their disapproval by staying away, but the disgraceful affair was recounted to me in all its details by more than one of the large audience that assembled. In the so-called "grand first part" there seemed to have been little that ...
— Ruggles of Red Gap • Harry Leon Wilson

... Vane, what does it signify? I can only think of my broken cross. I am sure it must be ...
— East Lynne • Mrs. Henry Wood

... the flag and signify That it wasn't born to die; Let its colors speak for you That you still are standing true, True in sight of God and man To ...
— Over Here • Edgar A. Guest

... it;" said Jost confidently, "You're sure to win in the end, if you keep on long enough. It doesn't signify if you do lose a little at ...
— Veronica And Other Friends - Two Stories For Children • Johanna (Heusser) Spyri

... votive offerings, or tokens of remembrance or respect. The place is called the Weli, or tomb, of a Persian Moslem saint named Sardoni. But it should be recollected that in Arabic the name 'Ajam, or Persia, is often used to signify any unknown distant country ...
— Byeways in Palestine • James Finn

... Incense is, as we shall see in c. 2; an emblem of prayer, and in this sense it is offered to the B. Sacrament, to Christ represented by the crucifix, and adored on the altar. The gospel is incensed to signify the sweet odour which it communicates to our souls; and the ministers of God, to signify, according to St. Thomas, that God maketh manifest the odour of his knowledge by us in every place: "For we are unto God the good odour ...
— The Ceremonies of the Holy-Week at Rome • Charles Michael Baggs

... the foregoing observations, there is nothing in the attitude of the new generation toward this whole question which remains incomprehensible, or even very puzzling. Their advanced ideas, when sifted down, would seem to signify no more than insufficient development of the finer and better side of their natures, and a lack of understanding concerning the important role which affection and sympathy are capable of playing in the search for happiness. This part of their training and education ...
— Heart and Soul • Victor Mapes (AKA Maveric Post)

... signify; I'm dying, I know I am, and I must speak to you!" he said, raising his voice, and speaking with all the energy of those who know that they are soon to be silent for evermore; "what will you do? what ...
— The Boy Artist. - A Tale for the Young • F.M. S.

... knows perfectly well that nobody can keep such questions from springing up in every young mind of any force or honesty. As for the excellent little wretches who grow up in what they are taught, with never a scruple or a query, Protestant or Catholic, Jew or Mormon, Mahometan or Buddhist, they signify nothing in the intellectual life of the race. If the world had been wholly peopled with such half-vitalized mental negatives, there never would have been a creed like that ...
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)

... room, without putting a book or pamphlet over it. They called it "that thing," and made tongs of their knitting-needles to lift it; and when I indignantly returned it to my pocket, they raised their hands to signify that I would not listen to reason. It seemed to come natural to other persons to present me with new tobacco-pouches, until I had nearly a score lying neglected in drawers. But I am not the man to desert an old ...
— My Lady Nicotine - A Study in Smoke • J. M. Barrie

... her feet seemed to signify that there was nothing more for either of them to say, and Archer ...
— The Age of Innocence • Edith Wharton



Words linked to "Signify" :   mean, refer, significance, sign, intend, signification, indicate, significant, signifier



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