A mark that means — and the act of setting one's name to a thing, owning it in the open.
Latin signum (a mark, a token, a seal), via Old French signe; a mark that means something beyond itself, and, as a verb, the act of putting a name to a thing.
A mark that means something beyond itself — and, in its other sense, the act of putting a name to a thing and owning it in the open.