Concept in Definition ABC

The meaning, for the Linguistics, is that element which, together with the signifier, forms what is known as a linguistic sign. Borrowing the words of Ferdinand de Saussure, the linguist of Swiss origin and who is considered in some way as the founder of modern Linguistics, the meaning, is the contents mental that is given to the linguistic sign.

This mental content, of course, will depend on each individual, since each one will assign one, in the meantime, to achieve a communication optimal, it will be necessary that by convention the meaning is the same for the people who communicate4.
The Linguistic sign, according also to Saussure, presents two basic components, the signifier (the sound of the expression linguistics) and the meaning (picture associated with that sound).

Also, the theory de Saussure maintains that linguistic signs themselves only exist in relation to other signs, because what refers to the table tells us that table is not a chair, a sideboard or a bed, but a table, a fact that also tells us that meaning can only exist when there is a

plurality of meaningful things, what is known as polysemy.

On the other hand, pragmatics, that sub-branch of linguistics that deals with the way in which the context influences the interpretation of meaning, tells us that the two main forms of context are linguistic context and situational context.

He too meaning is the sense or concept that represents a thing, a word or a sign. The meaning of his smile is unknown to us.

Another use of the term meaning, which has nothing to do with the one recently mentioned and more recurrent, is to refer when someone is known, famous or important for a prominent issue. John Lennon was a significant musician of the last century.

Topics in Meaning