Barthes – One of the leading theorists of semiotics, which is the study of signs.

C S Pierce – A scientist and philosopher best known for being the earliest supporter of pragmatism.

Ferdinand De Saussure – A Swiss linguist and semiotician.

Semiotics – The study of signs and symbols and their interpretations.

Sign – An object or event regarded as an indication of what has happened or is going to happen.

Signifier – The object.

Signified – The meaning or idea expressed by a sign.

Icon – A thing or person regarded as a representative symbol.

Index – A sign or measure of something.

Symbol – A mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, process or function.

Code – A system of letters, words, symbols or figures used to represent others.

Dominant Signifier – The most important sign.

Anchorage – When one piece of media uses another to reduce the amount of connotations in the first piece.

Ideology – A set of beliefs that an entity or person has.

Paradigm – An example or pattern of something; a pattern or model.

Syntagm – When a sign appears in a sequence that creates a different meaning.

Signification – The process of making something.

Denotation – Barthes – the object the thing.

Connotation – an idea or feeling that is abstract to the meaning of intentions.

Myth – A false belief or idea.

Radical text – Challenges the dominant ideology.