# sign vs signal

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### sign
*noun · IPA /saɪn/ · frequency rank #885*
A visible fact that shows that something exists or may happen.

### signal
*noun · IPA /ˈsɪɡnəl/ · frequency rank #2,406*
A sequence of states representing an encoded message in a communication channel.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sign-vs-signal