Rudi Keller gives a simplified definition of linguistic signs, if

not signs in general, stating

"Signs, therefore, are clues with which the speaker furnishes
the addressees, enabling them and leading them to infer the way
in which the speaker intends to influence them. Signs are not []
containers used for the transport of ideas from one persons head
to another. Signs are hints of a more or less distinct nature,
inviting the other to make certain inferences and enabling the
other to reach them."
Keller dubs the process of making inferences interpretation,
and the goal of the process understanding
Source:
Keller, Rudi. Expression and Meaning. A Theory of Linguistic
Signs. By Rudi Keller. Trans. Kimberley Duenwald. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1995. 87-95.