Sema
/ˈsiː.mə/noun
A sign, mark, or meaning-bearing unit, especially in semiotics and linguistics.
Did you know?The Greek root behind Sema appears in the name of the semiotician’s field: semiotics, the study of how signs create meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Hellenic, uncertain date
Proto-Hellenic
*sēma
“Reconstructed form meaning a sign or distinguishing mark”
5th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
σῆμα (sêma)
“A sign, mark, token, signal, or monument”
4th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
σημαίνω (sēmaínō)
“To signify, indicate, or make known”
17th–19th Centuries
International scholarly usage
seme / sema
“A minimal unit of meaning or a meaningful sign”
Modern English
English
sema
“A sign or meaning-bearing unit, chiefly in linguistics and semiotics”
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