— semiotician /see'mee euh tish"euhn, sem'ee-, see'muy-/ , n.
/see'mee ot"iks, sem'ee-, see'muy-/ , n. ( used with a sing. v. )
1. the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.
2. a general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.
[ 1875-80; see SEMIOTIC, -ICS ]