# mean (signify)

to be a significance of a thing

- Computed level: L9 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: draft  ·  Domain: common  ·  Arena: lexicon

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [meaning](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-meaning.significance), [state](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-state.condition)

**Through:** The significance together with a condition lets a word indicate what is intended.

**Novel properties:**
- intentional reference
- semantic mapping

## Examples
- The word 'kerfuffle' means a commotion, as used in UK parliamentary debates in 2019 to describe the Brexit negotiations. *(language)*
- In 2020, the International Prototype of the Kilogram was replaced because its physical mass no longer signified the standard due to atomic decay. *(metrology)*
- The dove image on Greenpeace's logo means peaceful environmental activism, established at its founding in 1971. *(organizations)*

## Used by
- [art](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-art.creative) (L10)
- [concise](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-concise.linguistic) (L11)
- [express](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-express.communication) (L10)
- [heart](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-heart.organ) (L14)
- [ideas](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-ideas.cognitive) (L23)
- [important](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-important.significance) (L10)
- [language](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-language.communication) (L12)
- [overshoot](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-overshoot.dynamics) (L16)
- [reason](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-reason.causal) (L10)
- [sign](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-sign.symbolic) (L11)
- [statement](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-statement.communication) (L10)
- [story](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-story.narrative) (L13)
- [terms](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-terms.language) (L11)

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-mean.signify*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-mean.signify.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*