A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or

occurrence of something else.[1] A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of
storm, or medical symptoms signify a disease. A conventional sign signifies by agreement, as a full stopsignifies the end
of a sentence; similarly the words and expressions of a language, as well as bodily gestures, can be regarded as signs,
expressing particular meanings. The physical objects most commonly referred to as signs (notices, road signs, etc.,
collectively known as signage) generally inform or instruct using written text, symbols, pictures or a combination of these.
The philosophical study of signs and symbols is called semiotics; this includes the study of semiosis, which is the way in
which signs (in the semiotic sense) operate

Source: wikipedia