▪ I. ˈsignifying, vbl. n.
[f. prec. + -ing1.]
a. Signification, intimation, indication.
| 13.. K. Alis. 587 (Laud MS.), Þe kyng..had þerof dotaunce,..And bad hem telle of whiche þing It miȝth be signifieyng? 1382 Wyclif 1 Mac. vii. 45 Thei sungen in trumpis after hem with signyfiyngus. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 2868 Thanne of merlyne often axede þe kyng what of the dragouns was þe signefyeng. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah xx. 3 It is a token and signifienge of the thinge, that after thre yeare shal come vpon Egipte and Ethiopia. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Denoncement, a signifying, a declaring. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 33 Signes appropriated to the signifying of that honour we owe to God. |
b. U.S. slang (chiefly Blacks'). The act of boasting, baiting, insulting, or making insinuations. Also attrib.
| 1959 A. Anderson Lover Man 21 ‘Y'all hush your signifying,’ I said. ‘That there's a lady, and I won't have y'all signifying 'bout her like that.’ 1964 Amer. Folk Music Occasional i. 75 ‘Signifying’ is a children's device, and is severely ‘put down’ by adults. 1970 [see joning vbl. n.]. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens v. 206 Mezzrow describes a signifying scene in Big John's bar in Harlem. 1977 Maledicta Summer 15 Young blacks have verbal contests like this in anti-family insults, called sounding or signifying. |
▪ II. ˈsignifying, ppl. a.
[-ing2.]
a. That signifies or denotes; significant. † signifying figure, signifying number: (see significant a. 2 b).
| 1542 Recorde Gr. Artes (1575) 43 Of those ten one doth signifie nothing... The other nyne are called Signifying figures. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 69 The same offering..is called the passion..of Christ,..in a signifying mysterie. 1624 Bedell Lett. xii. 161 If..you finde you haue taken manie nullities for signifying numbers, manie smaller signifiers for greater; correct the totall. 1644 Bulwer Chirol. 2 There is a signifying voyce in the naturall signes of the Hand. |
b. U.S. slang (chiefly Blacks'). That boasts, insults, or makes insinuations.
| 1956 M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) i. 11 The language is Creole French and the New Orleans Creoles call it a ‘signifying song’. In spite of its gaiety and rhumba-like rhythms, this song cuts two ways and the sali dame (dirty lady) to which it is addressed is about to have her reputation shredded. 1969 Negro Digest Sept. 14 Signifying poetry holds a special fascination for me. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens v. 207 Deep down in the jungle where the coconuts grow/Lived the signifyingest motherfucker that the world ever know. |