'signification' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'signification', which came from Latin 'significatio', where 'significare' meant 'to signify' or 'to indicate'.

'significatio' in Latin became 'signification' in Old French, and eventually entered Middle English as 'signification', which is the modern English form.

Initially, it meant 'the act of signifying or indicating', but over time it also came to mean 'the meaning or sense of something'.