Meanings
plural sigla
- figurativelyA thing which represents something else; a sign, a symbol.
[H]e emerged onto a garden terrace where on the soft red sand one could make out the sigla of a summer day: the imprints of a dog's paws, the beaded tracks of a wagtail, the Dunlop stripe left by Tanya's bicycle, […]
1963, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 2, in Michael Scammell, Vladimir Nabokov, transl., The Gift, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson […], →OCLC, page 86
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Late Latinsigla
- Proto-Indo-European*sem-“one; together”
- Proto-Indo-European*sek-“to cut, sever; to cut off”
- Late Latinsiglum“abbreviation”
- Englishsiglum
Learned borrowing from Late Latin siglum (“abbreviation”), possibly a contracted form of: * sigillum (“figurine, statuette; seal”), from signum (“figure, statue; seal, signet; mark, sign”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut, sever; to cut off”) or *sekʷ- (“to follow”)) + -ulum (diminutive suffix); or * singulum, a singular form of singulus (“apiece; every; single”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; together”). The plural form sigla is a learned borrowing from Late Latin sigla.
More words from Late Latin, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish lyhennysmerkki
- lyhennysmerkkiletter or other symbol that stands for a name or word
German Sigel, Kürzel
- Sigelletter or other symbol that stands for a name or word
- Kürzelletter or other symbol that stands for a name or word
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
siglum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/siglum
“siglum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/siglum. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “siglum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/siglum.
Source: siglum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.