Impress vs Sign - What's the difference?
impress | sign | Related terms |
To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=5 To make an impression, to be impressive.
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=September 7, author=Phil McNulty, title=Moldova 0-5 England
, work=BBC Sport To produce a vivid impression of (something).
To mark or stamp (something) using pressure.
* Shakespeare
To produce (a mark, stamp, image, etc.); to imprint (a mark or figure upon something).
(figurative) To fix deeply in the mind; to present forcibly to the attention, etc.; to imprint; to inculcate.
* I. Watts
To compel (someone) to serve in a military force.
To seize or confiscate (property) by force.
* Evelyn
The act of impressing.
An impression; an impressed image or copy of something.
* Shakespeare
* 1908 , Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans , Norton 2005, p. 1330:
A stamp or seal used to make an impression.
An impression on the mind, imagination etc.
* 2007 , John Burrow, A History of Histories , Penguin 2009, p. 187:
Characteristic; mark of distinction; stamp.
A heraldic device; an impresa.
* Milton
The act of impressing, or taking by force for the public service; compulsion to serve; also, that which is impressed.
* Shakespeare
(sometimes, also used uncountably) A visible indication.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
A clearly visible object, generally flat, bearing a short message in words or pictures.
* Macaulay
A traffic sign.
A meaningful gesture.
Any of several specialized non-alphabetic symbols.
(astrology) An astrological sign.
(mathematics) Positive or negative polarity.
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.
*, II.12:
* 2007 , Marcel Danesi, The Quest for Meaning :
(uncountable) Sign language in general.
An omen.
(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
#
#:The Queen signed her letter with the regal signet.
# To mark, to put or leave a mark on.
#*1726 , Elijah Fenton, The Odyssey of Homer :
#*:Meantime revolving in his thoughtful mind / The scar, with which his manly knee was sign'd […].
# To validate or ratify (a document) by writing one's signature on it.
#*c. 1597 , (William Shakespeare), The Merchant of Venice :
#*:Enquire the Iewes house out, giue him this deed, / And let him signe it […].
# More generally, to write one's signature on (something) as a means of identification etc.
#
#:Just sign your name at the bottom there.
#:I received a letter from some woman who signs herself ‘Mrs Trellis’.
# To write one's signature.
# To finalise a contractual agreement to work for a given sports team, record label etc.
#*2011 , The Guardian , (headline), 18 Oct 2011:
#*:Agents say Wales back Gavin Henson has signed for Cardiff Blues.
# To engage (a sports player, musician etc.) in a contract.
To make the sign of the cross
# To bless (someone or something) with the sign of the cross; to mark with the sign of the cross.
#* Book of Common Prayer
#*:We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross.
#*1971 , , Religion and the Decline of Magic , Folio Society 2012, p. 34:
#*:At the baptismal ceremony the child was […] signed with the cross in holy water.
# (reflexive) To cross oneself.
#*1855 , (Robert Browning), Men and Women :
#*:Shaking a fist at him with one fierce arm, / Signing himself with the other because of Christ.
To indicate
# To communicate using a gesture or signal.
#* Sir Walter Scott:
# To communicate using gestures to (someone).
#:He signed me that I should follow him through the doorway.
# To use sign language.
# To furnish (a road etc.) with signs.
Impress is a related term of sign.
As verbs the difference between impress and sign
is that impress is to affect (someone) strongly and often favourably while sign is to make a mark.As nouns the difference between impress and sign
is that impress is the act of impressing while sign is (sometimes|also used uncountably) a visible indication.impress
English
Verb
(es)citation, passage=Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.}}
citation, passage=Manchester United's Tom Cleverley impressed on his first competitive start and Lampard demonstrated his continued worth at international level in a performance that was little more than a stroll once England swiftly exerted their obvious authority.}}
- his heart, like an agate, with your print impressed
- Impress the motives of persuasion upon our own hearts till we feel the force of them.
- the second five thousand pounds impressed for the service of the sick and wounded prisoners
Synonyms
* make an impression on * cut a figure * (produce a vivid impression of) * imprint, print, stamp * : pressgang * : confiscate, impound, seize, sequesterNoun
(es)- This weak impress of love is as a figure / Trenched in ice.
- We know that you were pressed for money, that you took an impress of the keys which your brother held
- Such admonitions, in the English of the Authorized Version, left an indelible impress on imaginations nurtured on the Bible
- (South)
- (Cussans)
- To describe emblazoned shields, / Impresses quaint.
- Why such impress of shipwrights?
External links
* * *sign
English
(wikipedia sign)Etymology 1
From (etyl) signe, from (etyl) ; root uncertain.Noun
(en noun)- The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs , which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets.
- And why not, as well as our dumbe men dispute, argue and tell histories by signes ?
- In American Sign Language (ASL), for instance, the sign for 'catch' is formed with one hand (in the role of agent) moving across the body (an action) to grasp the forefinger of the other hand (the patient).
- (Milton)
Derived terms
* air sign * astrological sign * earth sign * fire sign * high sign * Indian sign * minus sign * neon sign * plus sign * road sign * sign language * sign of life * star sign * street sign * traffic sign * vital sign * water signEtymology 2
From (etyl) (seigner), (seiner) et al., (etyl) signer et al., and their source, (etyl) ; see Etymology 1, above. Compare (sain).Verb
(en verb)- I forgot to sign that letter to my aunt.
- Please sign on the dotted line.
- It was a great month. I managed to sign three major players.
- I signed to Browne to make his retreat.