“A sign is not only something which stands for something else; it is also something that can and must be interpreted.”

—  Umberto Eco , book Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language

[2] Dictionary vs. Encyclopedia, 2.1 : Porphyry strikes back, 2.1.1 : Is a definition an interpretation?
Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language (1984)
Context: A sign is not only something which stands for something else; it is also something that can and must be interpreted. The criterion of interpretability allows us to start from a given sign to cover, step by step, the whole universe of semiosis.

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Umberto Eco 120
Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic… 1932–2016

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