- the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.
- a general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.
- the study of signs and symbols, esp the relations between written or spoken signs and their referents in the physical world or the world of ideas
- the scientific study of the symptoms of disease; symptomatology
