Sign vs Token - What's the difference?
sign | token |
(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.
Something serving as an expression of something else; sign, symbol
A keepsake, momento, souvenir
A piece of stamped metal used as a substitute for money; a voucher that can be exchanged for goods or services
(obsolete, sometimes, figurative) Evidence, proof; a confirming detail; physical trace, mark, footprint.
* Shakespeare
Support for a belief; grounds for an opinion; reason, reasoning, witcraft (see usage)
An extraordinary event serving as evidence of supernatural power, a miracle
An object or disclosure to attest or authenticate the bearer or an instruction; a password
A seal guaranteeing the quality of an item.
Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith.
* (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
A tally
(philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.
(computing) An atomic piece of data, such as a word, for which a meaning may be inferred during parsing. Also called a symbol.
* 2004 , Randall Hyde, Write Great Code: Understanding the Machine , page 68
(computing) A conceptual object that can be possessed by a computer, process, etc. in order to regulate a turn-taking system such as a token ring network.
(grammar) A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.
(medical) A characteristic sign of a disease or of a bodily disorder, a symptom; a sign of a bodily condition, recovery, or health.
(medical, obsolete) A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.
* (rfdate)'' (Beaumont and Fletcher)
(printing) Ten and a half quires, or, commonly, 250 sheets, of paper printed on both sides; also, in some cases, the same number of sheets printed on one side, or half the number printed on both sides.
(mining) A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.
(mining) A thin bed of coal indicating the existence of a thicker seam at no great distance.
(rail transport) A physical object used for exchange between drivers and signalmen on single track lines.
(weaving) In a loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.
(Church of Scotland) A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.
Done as an indication or a pledge; perfunctory, minimal or merely symbolic.
* 1927 , , Money and Monetary Policy in Early Times , page 393
* 2000 , Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender, Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women , Page 176
* 2008 , Adrian Blomfield, ,
a minor attempt for appearance sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement
* he was hired as the company's token black
* ''the television show was primarily directed toward a negro audience, but it did have a few token whites as performers
To betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote
* 1962' (quoting '''c. 1398 text), (Hans Kurath) & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., ''(Middle English Dictionary) , Ann Arbor, Mich.: (University of Michigan Press), , page 1242:
To betroth
(philosophy) To symbolize, instantiate
* {{quote-journal, 2008, date=August 27, Mikkel Gerken, Is There a Simple Argument for Higher-Order Representation Theories of Awareness Consciousness?, Erkenntnis, url=, doi=10.1007/s10670-008-9116-z, volume=69, issue=2, pages=
, passage=In which sense does ‘?p ~(p & ~p)’ cause the tokening of the belief in the subject? }}
Token is a synonym of sign.
As nouns the difference between sign and token
is that sign is a visible indication while token is something serving as an expression of something else; sign, symbol.As verbs the difference between sign and token
is that sign is to make a mark while token is to betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote.As an adjective token is
done as an indication or a pledge; perfunctory, minimal or merely symbolic.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.
Derived terms
* sign in * signing bonus * sign off * sign on * sign over * sign out * sign up * sign one's life awayExternal links
* *Anagrams
*token
English
(wikipedia token)Noun
(en noun)- According to the Bible, the rainbow is a token of God's covenant with Noah.
- Please accept this bustier as a token of our time together.
- Subway tokens are being replaced by magnetic cards.
- A book token is the easiest option for a Christmas gift.
- Say, by this token , I desire his company.
- Say, by this token , I desire his company.
- For each lexeme, the scanner creates a small data package known as a token and passes this data package on to the parser.
- Like the fearful tokens of the plague, Are mere forerunners of their ends.
Synonyms
* (something serving as an expression of something else) sign, symbol * (atomic piece of data) symbolDerived terms
* by the same token * by that token — by that reason * in token of — on account of; because of, as an indication of * tokenism * tokenization * token ringSee also
* (philosophy) particular, universal, typeAdjective
(en adjective)- He made a token tap on the brake pedal at the stop sign.
- If the as had been reduced to a token in 240 BC, it was now a little more token than before.
- There are still many churches where the participation of women is token .
Has Russia got a new Stalin?, March 31, 2008
- Just to be on the safe side, the The Kremlin has also banned any of Putin’s serious critics from standing. Three unelectable misfits have been allowed to mount token challenges.
Derived terms
* tokenish * tokenistic * tokenless * tokenlikeVerb
(en verb)- dorr?&
- 773;', '''d?r?''' adj. & n.