semaphore

1 of 2

noun

sem·​a·​phore ˈse-mə-ˌfȯr 

1

: an apparatus for visual signaling (as by the position of one or more movable arms)

2

: a system of visual signaling by two flags held one in each hand

Illustration of semaphore

• alphabet; 3 positions following Z

semaphore

2 of 2

verb

semaphored; semaphoring

transitive verb

: to convey (information) by or as if by semaphore

intransitive verb

: to send signals by or as if by semaphore

Examples of semaphore in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

With paint on fabric that is somewhere between a painting and semaphore, another theme is spelled out at the back of the room: tartan. —Robert Sullivan, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2023

Telegraph Hill itself was named after the semaphore station built on top of it in 1850 to signal that ships had arrived. —Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Feb. 2023

Verb

The set is half nightclub, half car crash, just like the Roaring Twenties; all the characters’ costumes have dirty hems, as though to semaphore that none of them have quite risen above the muck of the American dream. —Lauren Groff, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2024

These days, her public-facing looks deliberately semaphore relaxed, rather than regal. —Kerry McDermott, Vogue, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French sémaphore, from Greek sêma "sign, signal" + -phoros -phore — more at semantic

Note: The French word flouts the rules of Greco-Latin word formation, according to which the correct outcome would be sématophore. The genesis of sémaphore is somewhat obscure. Early on the word is associated with an innovative system of optical telegraphy used for coastal communication, based on the inventions of Claude Chappe developed in France in the 1790's. This revised system, employing a mast with three movable arms, was the work of Charles Depillon (1768-1805), a retired artillery officer and farmer. It was described in the article "Nouveaux Télégraphes, á l'usage de la Marine, de l'Intérieur, et des Armées," Annales des Arts et Manufactures, vol. 4 (4 nivôse An IX [December 25, 1800], pp. 90-112). An offprint of this article is archived in the Service historique de la Marine in Vincennes, France, along with a letter written by Depillon dated June 11, 1801. (For this and other bibliographic details, see François Cabane, Charles Depillon (1768-1805), Inventeur des Sémaphores côtiers, Plouzané: Ifremer, 2007.) The word sémaphore is not used in the article, and apparently not in the letter, so that there is no strong indication that it was coined by Depillon. It is used in Signaux de la ligne sémaphorique établie sur les côtes de l'Océan et de la Méditerranée (Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1806), an official description of the semaphore system published by order of the naval minister Denis Decrès. According to Cabane, the word sémaphores is written on the cover of the book as well as on the cover of the accompanying atlas.

Verb

derivative of semaphore entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1838, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

semaphore

noun

sem·​a·​phore

ˈsem-ə-ˌfō(ə)r,

-ˌfȯ(ə)r

1

: a device for sending signals that can be seen by the receiver

2

: a system of sending signals with two flags held one in each hand