means The branch of linguistics and philosophy concerned with meaning — how words, phrases, and symbols actually signify what they signify.

from From Greek 'sēmantikos,' meaning 'significant' or 'having meaning,' which traces back to 'sēma,' a 'sign' or 'mark' — the same root that quietly lurks in 'semaphore' (signs by flag) and 'semiotics' (the study of signs). The term entered English in the late 19th century through French 'sémantique,' coined by the linguist Michel Bréal to name the study of how meanings shift and grow.