Meaning

noun an apparatus for visual signaling with lights or mechanically moving arms

verb send signals by or as if by semaphore

verb convey by semaphore, of information

originThe noun is borrowed from French sémaphore, from Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma, “mark, sign, token”) + French -phore (from Ancient Greek -φόρος (-phóros, suffix indicating a bearer or carrier)). By surface analysis, sema- + -phore. The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0