
Terminology Tuesday: Sign
An entity that carries information, particularly about something beyond itself. Semiotics, or the theory of signs, includes three areas of study: (1) syntax looks at the relations signs have to each other; (2) semantics looks at the relations between signs and what signs signify; and (3) pragmatics looks at the ways signs are used. In Paul Tillich’s theology a sign is distinguished (somewhat idiosyncratically) from a symbol in that a symbol is said to participate in or have some kind of internal relation to that which it signifies.
Evans, C. S. (2002). Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (pp. 106–107). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.