Definition of "symptom"

symptom

/ˈsɪm(p)təm/

noun
plural symptoms
1. (medicine) A perceived change in some function, sensation or appearance of a person that indicates a disease or disorder, such as fever, headache or rash; strictly, a symptom is felt or experienced by the patient, while a sign can be detected by an observer.
2. (figuratively) A signal; anything that indicates, or is characteristic of, the presence of something else, especially of something undesirable.
  Quotations
  "Nay, nay," exclaimed Lord Norbourne, "I cannot go quite so far as that. I have, thanks to your hospitality, laid in a stock of health enough for the ensuing winter: but as to the general benevolence of which you talk, I confess I find no symptoms: if I did, they would alarm me more than those of the gout."
  1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], pages 114–115
  Some people see birth outside of marriage as a social problem—a sign of a breakdown in the traditional family and a symptom of moral decay.
  2009, Charles Zastrow, Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare

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