etymon vs signifier

etymon and signifier both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
etymon	Yes	No	No	No
signifier	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, signifier is a hypernym of etymon; that is, signifier is a word with a broader meaning than etymon:

etymon: a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes
signifier: the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something

Other hypernyms of etymon include descriptor, form, word form.

etymon (noun)	signifier (noun)
a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes	the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something