Sigint

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The practice of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting intercepted electronic signals for intelligence purposes; the information obtained through monitoring communications, radar, and other electronic transmissions; a military and espionage discipline focused on electronic eavesdropping and surveillance
2. Collection and examination of electronic communications and signals to gain strategic information; intelligence derived from intercepting radio, radar, or data transmissions; a specialized field involved in electronic monitoring for national security
3. The process of capturing and decoding electronic transmissions to acquire covert information; intelligence sourced from intercepted communications, including voice, data, and radar signals; an operational activity concerned with electronic signal interception and intelligence gathering

Etymology: "Sigint" is a blend of "signal" and "intelligence," two ordinary English words fused into one compact term for a specialised military and espionage activity. The result is a clipped coinage in which the first syllable comes from the technical sense of "signal" (an electronic transmission) and the second from "intelligence" in its older sense of secret information gathered for military or state purposes. The blend reflects what the discipline actually does: it treats radio traffic, radar returns and other electromagnetic emissions as signals to be intercepted, while the product of that work is intelligence. Naming the field by joining the two words made it possible to refer to the whole enterprise in a single word, much as "Humint" and "Elint" were later formed on the same pattern to name other branches of intelligence work.

Synonyms: signals intelligence, signal intelligence