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Write vs. Sign — What's the Difference?

Write vs. Sign — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Write and Sign

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Write

Mark (letters, words, or other symbols) on a surface, typically paper, with a pen, pencil, or similar implement
Alice wrote down the address
He wrote his name on the paper
He wrote very neatly in blue ink

Sign

A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or medical symptoms a sign of disease.

Write

Compose, write, and send (a letter) to someone
I wrote him a short letter
Eleanor wrote to her sister Laura in Paris
I wrote a letter to Alison
He wrote almost every day

Sign

An object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else
The shops are full, which is a sign that the recession is past its worst
Flowers are often given as a sign of affection

Write

Compose (a text or work) for written or printed reproduction or publication; put into literary form and set down in writing
She wrote a bestselling novel
He wrote under a pseudonym
I didn't know you wrote poetry
He had written about the beauty of Andalusia
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Sign

A gesture or action used to convey information or an instruction
She gave him the thumbs-up sign

Write

Enter (data) into a specified storage medium or location in store
Files can be read and written directly into the file system

Sign

A notice on public display that gives information or instructions in a written or symbolic form
I didn't see the ‘Stop’ sign

Write

Underwrite (an insurance policy).

Sign

Each of the twelve equal sections into which the zodiac is divided, named from the constellations formerly situated in each, and associated with successive periods of the year according to the position of the sun on the ecliptic
A person born under the sign of Virgo
A sign of the Zodiac

Write

To form (letters, words, or symbols) on a surface such as paper with an instrument such as a pen.

Sign

The positiveness or negativeness of a quantity
The last four bits hold a pattern to represent the sign of the number

Write

To form (letters or words) in cursive style, especially in contrast to printing by hand.

Sign

Write one's name on (a letter, card, document, etc.) to identify oneself as the writer or sender
The card was signed by the whole class

Write

To spell
How do you write your name?.

Sign

Use gestures to convey information or instructions
She signed to her husband to leave the room

Write

To fill (an amount of space) with words or information
Wrote five pages in an hour.

Sign

Indicate with signposts or other markers
The footpath is signed by the gate

Write

To put written information in the blank spaces of (a check, form, or similar document).

Sign

Mark or consecrate with the sign of the cross
He signed himself with the cross

Write

To produce or compose (text) in a recorded form that can be read
Write a poem.
Write a letter.

Sign

Something that suggests the presence or existence of a fact, condition, or quality
A high temperature is a sign of fever.

Write

To express in writing; set down
Write one's thoughts.

Sign

An act or gesture used to convey an idea, a desire, information, or a command
Gave the go-ahead sign.

Write

To communicate by writing, especially by written letter
She wrote that she was planning to visit.

Sign

Sign language.

Write

To communicate with (someone) by writing, especially by letter
Wrote me to tell me she had moved again.

Sign

A displayed structure bearing lettering or symbols, used to identify or advertise a place of business
A motel with a flashing neon sign outside.

Write

To compose (a musical work).

Sign

A posted notice bearing a designation, direction, or command
An EXIT sign above a door.
A traffic sign.

Write

To underwrite, as an insurance policy.

Sign

A conventional figure or device that stands for a word, phrase, or operation; a symbol, as in mathematics or in musical notation.

Write

To compose in legal form; draft
Write a will.

Sign

Pl. sign An indicator, such as a dropping or footprint, of the trail of an animal
Looking for deer sign.

Write

To indicate; mark
"Utter dejection was written on every face" (Winston S. Churchill).

Sign

A trace or vestige
No sign of life.

Write

To ordain or prophesy
It was written that the empire would fall.

Sign

A portentous incident or event; a presage
Took the eclipse as a sign from God.

Write

(Computers) To transfer or copy (information) from memory to a storage device or output device.

Sign

(Medicine) An objective finding, usually detected on physical examination, from a laboratory test, or on an x-ray, that indicates the presence of abnormality or disease.

Write

To trace or form letters, words, or symbols on paper or another surface
People who cannot read or write.

Sign

One of the 12 divisions of the zodiac, each named for a constellation and represented by a symbol.

Write

To produce written material, such as articles or books
She wrote for most of her adult life.

Sign

To affix one's signature to
Signed the letter.

Write

To compose a letter, email, or other written communication
Please write while you are away.

Sign

To write (one's signature)
Signed her name to the contract.

Write

(ambitransitive) To form letters, words or symbols on a surface in order to communicate.
The pupil wrote his name on the paper.
Your son has been writing on the wall.

Sign

To approve or ratify (a document) by affixing a signature, seal, or other mark
Sign a bill into law.

Write

(transitive) To be the author of (a book, article, poem, etc.).
My uncle writes newspaper articles for The Herald.

Sign

To hire or engage by obtaining a signature on a contract
Signed a rookie pitcher for next season.
Sign up actors for a tour.

Write

(transitive) To send written information to.
(UK) Please write to me when you get there.
(US) Please write me when you get there.

Sign

To relinquish or transfer title to by signature
Signed away all her claims to the estate.

Write

(transitive) To show (information, etc) in written form.
The due day of the homework is written in the syllabus.

Sign

To provide with a sign or signs
Sign a new highway.

Write

To convey a fact to someone via writing.
Jimmy wrote me that he needs more money.

Sign

To communicate with a sign or signs
Signed his approval with a nod.

Write

(intransitive) To be an author.
I write for a living.

Sign

To express (a word or thought, for example) in a sign language
Signed her reply to the question.

Write

To record data mechanically or electronically.
The computer writes to the disk faster than it reads from it.

Sign

To consecrate with the sign of the cross.

Write

To fill in, to complete using words.
I was very anxious to know my score after I wrote the test.

Sign

To make a sign or signs; signal.

Write

To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave.
Truth written on the heart

Sign

To communicate in a sign language.

Write

To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; often used reflexively.

Sign

To write one's signature.

Write

(finance) To sell (an option or other derivative).

Sign

A perceptible (e.g. visible) indication.
Their angry expressions were a clear sign they didn't want to talk.
Those clouds show signs of raining soon.
Those clouds show little sign of raining soon.
Signs of disease are objective, whereas symptoms are subjective.
The sharp sign indicates that the pitch of the note is raised a half step.
I gave them a thumbs-up sign.

Write

To paint a religious icon.

Sign

Physical evidence left by an animal.
The hunters found deer sign at the end of the trail.

Write

The act or style of writing.

Sign

A clearly visible object, generally flat, bearing a short message in words or pictures.
The sign in the window advertised a room for rent.
I missed the sign at the corner so I took the wrong turn.

Write

(computing) The operation of storing data, as in memory or onto disk.
How many writes per second can this hard disk handle?

Sign

A wonder; miracle; prodigy.

Write

To set down, as legible characters; to form the conveyance of meaning; to inscribe on any material by a suitable instrument; as, to write the characters called letters; to write figures.

Sign

(astrology) An astrological sign.
Your sign is Taurus? That's no surprise.

Write

To set down for reading; to express in legible or intelligible characters; to inscribe; as, to write a deed; to write a bill of divorcement; hence, specifically, to set down in an epistle; to communicate by letter.
Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to one she loves.
I chose to write the thing I durst not speakTo her I loved.

Sign

(mathematics) Positive or negative polarity, as denoted by the + or - sign.
I got the magnitude right, but the sign was wrong.

Write

Hence, to compose or produce, as an author.
I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time within the memory of men still living.

Sign

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.

Write

To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as, truth written on the heart.

Sign

(uncountable) Sign language in general.
Sorry, I don't know sign very well.

Write

To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; - often used reflexively.
He who writes himself by his own inscription is like an ill painter, who, by writing on a shapeless picture which he hath drawn, is fain to tell passengers what shape it is, which else no man could imagine.

Sign

A semantic unit, something that conveys meaning or information (e.g. a word of written language); a unit consisting of a signifier and a signified concept. sign (semiotics)]].

Write

To form characters, letters, or figures, as representative of sounds or ideas; to express words and sentences by written signs.
So it stead you, I will write,Please you command.

Sign

An omen.
"It's a sign of the end of the world," the doom prophet said.

Write

To be regularly employed or occupied in writing, copying, or accounting; to act as clerk or amanuensis; as, he writes in one of the public offices.

Sign

(medicine) A property of the body that indicates a disease and, unlike a symptom, can be detected objectively by someone other than the patient.

Write

To frame or combine ideas, and express them in written words; to play the author; to recite or relate in books; to compose.
They can write up to the dignity and character of the authors.

Sign

A military emblem carried on a banner or standard.

Write

To compose or send letters.
He wrote for all the Jews that went out of his realm up into Jewry concerning their freedom.

Sign

To make a mark

Write

Produce a literary work;
She composed a poem
He wrote four novels

Sign

To seal (a document etc.) with an identifying seal or symbol.
The Queen signed her letter with the regal signet.

Write

Communicate or express by writing;
Please write to me every week

Sign

(transitive) To mark, to put or leave a mark on.

Write

Have (one's written work) issued for publication;
How many books did Georges Simenon write?
She published 25 books during her long career

Sign

(transitive) To validate or ratify (a document) by writing one's signature on it.

Write

Communicate (with) in writing;
Write her soon, please!

Sign

(transitive) More generally, to write one's signature on (something) as a means of identification etc.
I forgot to sign that letter to my aunt.

Write

Communicate by letter;
He wrote that he would be coming soon

Sign

To write (one's name) as a signature.
Just sign your name at the bottom there.
I received a letter from some woman who signs herself ‘Mrs Trellis’.

Write

Write music;
Beethoven composed nine symphonies

Sign

(intransitive) To write one's signature.
Please sign on the dotted line.

Write

Mark or trace on a surface;
The artist wrote Chinese characters on a big piece of white paper

Sign

(intransitive) To finalise a contractual agreement to work for a given sports team, record label etc.

Write

Record data on a computer;
Boot-up instructions are written on the hard disk

Sign

(transitive) To engage (a sports player, musician etc.) in a contract.
It was a great month. I managed to sign three major players.

Write

Write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word);
He spelled the word wrong in this letter

Sign

To make the sign of the cross

Sign

(transitive) To bless (someone or something) with the sign of the cross; to mark with the sign of the cross.

Sign

(reflexive) To cross oneself.

Sign

To indicate

Sign

(intransitive) To communicate using a gesture or signal.

Sign

(transitive) To communicate or make known (a meaning, intention, etc.) by a sign.

Sign

(transitive) To communicate using gestures to (someone).
He signed me that I should follow him through the doorway.

Sign

(intransitive) To use sign language.

Sign

(transitive) To furnish (a road etc.) with signs.

Sign

To determine the sign of

Sign

(transitive) To calculate or derive whether a quantity has a positive or negative sign.

Sign

That by which anything is made known or represented; that which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof.
Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.
It shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

Sign

Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument.
What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign.

Sign

Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture.
The holy symbols, or signs, are not barely significative; but what they represent is as certainly delivered to us as the symbols themselves.
Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory.

Sign

A word or a character regarded as the outward manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of ideas.
They made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

Sign

Hence, one of the gestures of pantomime, or of a language of a signs such as those used by the North American Indians, or those used by the deaf and dumb.

Sign

A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard.
The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets.

Sign

The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac.

Sign

A character indicating the relation of quantities, or an operation performed upon them; as, the sign + (plus); the sign - (minus); the sign of division ÷, and the like.

Sign

Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc.
An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

Sign

To represent by a sign; to make known in a typical or emblematic manner, in distinction from speech; to signify.
I signed to Browne to make his retreat.

Sign

To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign.
We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross.

Sign

To affix a signature to; to ratify by hand or seal; to subscribe in one's own handwriting.
Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed,And let him sign it.

Sign

To assign or convey formally; - used with away.

Sign

To mark; to make distinguishable.

Sign

To be a sign or omen.

Sign

To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or intelligence by signs.

Sign

To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent, responsibility, or obligation.

Sign

A perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened);
He showed signs of strain
They welcomed the signs of spring

Sign

A public display of a (usually written) message;
He posted signs in all the shop windows

Sign

Any communication that encodes a message;
Signals from the boat suddenly stopped

Sign

Structure displaying a board on which advertisements can be posted;
The highway was lined with signboards

Sign

(astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided

Sign

(medicine) any objective evidence of the presence of a disorder or disease;
There were no signs of asphixiation

Sign

Having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges);
He got the polarity of the battery reversed
Charges of opposite sign

Sign

An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come;
He hoped it was an augury
It was a sign from God

Sign

A gesture that is part of a sign language

Sign

A fundamental linguistic unit linking a signifier to that which is signified;
The bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary

Sign

A character indicating a relation between quantities;
Don't forget the minus sign

Sign

Mark with one's signature; write one's name (on);
She signed the letter and sent it off
Please sign here

Sign

Approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation;
All parties ratified the peace treaty
Have you signed your contract yet?

Sign

Be engaged by a written agreement;
He signed to play the casino on Dec. 18
The soprano signed to sing the new opera

Sign

Engage by written agreement;
They signed two new pitchers for the next season

Sign

Communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs;
He signed his disapproval with a dismissive hand gesture
The diner signaled the waiters to bring the menu

Sign

Place signs, as along a road;
Sign an intersection
This road has been signed

Sign

Communicate in sign language;
I don't know how to sign, so I could not communicate with my deaf cousin

Sign

Make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate

Sign

Used of the language of the deaf

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