signalling

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
signal1

▶noun

• 1 a gesture, action, or sound conveying information or an instruction.

• 2 an indication of a state of affairs.

• 3 an event or statement that provides the impulse or occasion for something to happen.

• 4 a light or semaphore on a railway, giving indications to train drivers of whether or not to proceed.

• 5 Bridge a prearranged convention of bidding or play intended to convey information to one's partner.

• 6 an electrical impulse or radio wave transmitted or received.

▶verb (signals, signalling, signalled; US signals, signaling, signaled)

• 1 transmit a signal.

• 2 instruct or indicate by means of a signal.

– derivatives
signaller noun.

– origin ME: from OFr., from med. L. signale, neut. of late L. signalis, from L. signum (see sign).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
signal2

▶adjective striking in extent, seriousness, or importance.

– derivatives
signally adverb.

– origin C17: from Fr. signalé, from the Ital. past part. segnalato ‘distinguished’, from segnale ‘a signal’.