Significares

Significares is a term occasionally used in Romance-language writings to refer to the meanings or significations associated with signs. The word stems from the verb significare, meaning “to signify,” itself from Latin significare, formed from signum “mark, sign” plus -ficare “to make.” In English discourse, the closest general idea is “meanings” or “significations.”

In semiotic and semantic analysis, significares denote the content that a sign conveys beyond its physical form. This can include denotation (literal reference), sense (cognitive content), connotation (associative values), and pragmatic implications (contextual usage). Significares are thus the interpretive payload of signs, and they are often discussed in relation to the sign’s form, such as the signifier in Saussurean theory or the representamen in Peirce’s model.

Usage examples vary by domain. The significares of a word can shift with language, culture, and context, while the significares of a gesture depend on social norms and communicative aims. In discourse analysis and sign-system studies, analysts may refer to significares to describe how signs function within larger communication processes, though the term is not universally standardized across fields.

See also: Sign, Signifier, Signified, Semantics, Pragmatics, Semiotics. Note that significares is not a universally adopted technical term; when used, it typically requires clarification of scope (denotation, sense, connotation, pragmatics) and methodological stance.