signal | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

72 entries found.

late 14c., "visible sign, indication," from Old French signal, seignal "seal, imprint, sign, mark," from Medieval Latin signale "a signal," from Late Latin signalis (adj.) "used as a signal, pertaining to a sign," from Latin signum "identifying mark, sign" (see sign (n.)). Restricted sense "agreed-upon sign (to commence or desist, etc.) is from 1590s. Meaning "modulation of an electric current" is from 1855.

signal (adj.)

"remarkable, striking, notable" ("serving as a sign"), 1640s, from French signalé, past participle of signaler "to distinguish, signal" (see signal (n.)).

signal (v.)

1805, "to make signals to," from signal (n.). Related: Signaled; signaling. Earlier verb was signalize (1650s).

beck (v.)

"to signal by a nod or gesture," c. 1300, shortening of beckon. (v.).

radio-telephone (n.)

"telephone link through which the signal is transmitted partly by radio," 1900, from radio (n.) + telephone (n.).

nudge (n.2)

"a slight push with the elbow," 1787, from nudge (v.). Figurative sense of "a signal or hint intended to call attention, remind, etc." is by 1831.

pager (n.)

"device that emits a signal when activated by a telephone call," 1968, agent noun from page (v.1).

beacon (n.)

Old English beacen "sign, portent, lighthouse," from West Germanic *baukna "beacon, signal" (source also of Old Frisian baken, Old Saxon bokan, Old High German bouhhan); probably from Proto-Germanic *baukna- "beacon, signal," from suffixed form of PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine." Figurative use from c. 1600.

telegraph (v.)

1805, from telegraph (n.). Figurative meaning "to signal one's intentions" is first attested 1925, originally in boxing. Related: Telegraphed; telegraphing.

probability (n.)

mid-15c., probabilite, "likelihood of being realized, appearance of truth, quality of being probable," from Old French probabilite (14c.) and directly from Latin probabilitatem (nominative probabilitas) "credibility, probability," from probabilis (see probable).

Meaning "something likely to be true" is from 1570s; mathematical sense is from 1718, "frequency with which a proposition similar to the one in question is found true in the course of experience."

In weather forecasting, probabilities was used in U.S. from 1869 and adopted in the official weather forecasts of the United States Signal Service; hence Old Probabilities, a humorous name for the chief signal officer of the Signal Service Bureau (by 1875).

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