sky signn.
/ˈskʌɪ sʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈskaɪ ˌsaɪn/ 1. Chiefly poetic. A heavenly sign or portent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > heavenly body > as influence on mankind > [noun] > celestial portent
sky sign1880
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > an omen, sign, portent > [noun]
foretokenc888
tokeningc888
beaconc950
token971
handsela1200
boding1297
wonder1297
bodec1374
signa1387
foreboding1387
prenostica1393
prognosticc1425
prophetc1430
prognostication?a1439
ostentationa1450
prenostication?a1450
prodigy?a1450
augurationc1450
preparative1460
prenosticate?a1475
prenosticative?a1475
prodige1482
prenosticature1490
tokener1513
weird1513
show token1535
luck1538
prognosticate1541
preamble1548
proffer1548
presagition?c1550
foreshower1555
presage1560
portent1562
ostent1570
presagie1581
omen1582
presagement1586
luck sign1587
augury1588
prognosticon1588
forerunner1589
presager1591
halfner1594
spae1596
abode1598
oss1600
assign1601
augur1603
bodement1613
predictiona1616
prognosticala1618
bespeaker1624
portender1635
pre-indicant1659
foreshadow1834
boder1846
prognosticant1880
sky sign1880
1880 R. Browning Dramatic Idyls 2nd Ser. 64 Where [there] was..Star to name or sky-sign [to] read.
1922 G. K. Chesterton What I saw in Amer. 94 One looked up in a sort of despair at the sky, not for a sky-sign.
1940 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil Georgics i. 23 Well for us that we watch the rise and fall of the sky-signs [L. signorum] And the four different seasons that divide the year equally.
2007 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 17 June b3 I grope around, no age-old sky signs to guide me home.
2.
a. A sign, esp. one displaying advertising or news, placed in such a way as to stand out against the sky; spec. an electrically illuminated sign of this kind.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > [noun] > an indication or sign > sign in the sky > illuminated
sky sign1887
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > types or methods of advertising > [noun] > other types of advertisement
sky sign1887
blurb1914
neon sign1927
standee1930
teaser1934
zipper1957
hot button1966
1887 Van Wert (Ohio) Weekly Bull. 18 Feb. Cole's new sign and the sky sign of Bonton & Lawrence are both good ones.
1890 Spectator 30 Aug. 272/2 We entirely agree with him as to the hideous horror of these ‘sky-signs’, as he terms them.
1916 A. Bennett Lion's Share ix. 64 They crossed a thoroughfare that twinkled and glittered from end to end with moving sky-signs.
1926 Socialist Rev. June 13 In Piccadilly a large crowd—mostly strikers—watched a Daily Dispatch news bulletin thrown up on a huge sky-sign.
1966 Punch 16 Mar. 368/2 There's to be one of those electric sky-sign newscasters in Piccadilly Circus at last.
1984 A. Comfort Reality & Empathy i. 18 The successively lit bulbs in a running sky sign.
2015 Dawn (Pakistan) (Nexis) 17 Nov. Billboards, sky signs and other outdoor advertisements.
b. An advertisement or other message created by skywriting.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > types or methods of advertising > [noun] > aerial advertising > advertisement
sky sign1922
1922 Flight 14 330/2 His first ‘sky sign’ took the form of the word ‘Castrol’.
1931 C. Day Lewis From Feathers to Iron 53 Now shall the airman vertically banking Out of the blue write a new sky-sign.
1990 South of Boston 15 Aug. 15/2 If the customer wants to change the message in mid-flight, the Sky Sign can be reprogrammed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1880