Semiosis (from the
Greek:
σημείωσις,
sēmeíōsis, a derivation of the verb
σημειῶ,
sēmeiô, "to mark") is any form of activity, conduct, or process that involves
signs, including the production of
meaning. Briefly – semiosis is sign process. The term was introduced by
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) to describe a process that interprets signs as referring to their objects, as described in his theory of
sign relations, or
semiotics. Semiosis is
triadic and
cyclic. Other theories of sign processes are sometimes carried out under the heading of semiology, following on the work of
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913).