sign

Sign vs symbolsymbol
a symbol in semiotics participates in its own meaning. It is common in myth (Jung wrote a book on man and symbols)
in semioticssemiotics
Semiotics is the theory of the signs, like in language.
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Ferdinand de Saussure

\[\text{Sign} = \text{Signifier} + \text{Signified}\]

peircepeirce
C.S. Peirce

\[\text{Sign} = \text{Representamen} + \text{Interpretant} + \text{Object}\]