9 letters · 13 points in Scrabble
noun (philosophy) a philosophical theory of the functions of signs and symbols
originCoined by John Locke from Ancient Greek σημειωτικός (sēmeiōtikós, “fitted for marking, portending”), from σημειόω (sēmeióō, “to mark, interpret as a portend”), from σημεῖον (sēmeîon, “a mark, sign, token”), from σῆμα (sêma, “mark, sign”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0