"¿Cuál es el significado?" translates to "What is the meaning?" in English.

This Spanish phrase asks for the sense, definition, or importance of a word, phrase, idea, or event. In linguistics, "significado" refers to the semantic content of a sign, which can be denotative (objective and dictionary-based) or connotative (subjective and context-dependent).

Types of Meaning

• Denotative : The literal, universal sense shared by speakers of a language, as found in dictionaries.

• Connotative : Subjective associations varying by culture, individual, or context.

The phrase often appears in questions seeking clarification, like "¿Cuál es el significado de la vida?" (What is the meaning of life?). According to the Real Academia Española, "significado" also means something conveyed indirectly or a mental concept.