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A Lacanian concept derived from Saussurean structural linguistics. In structural linguistics, language is a a system in which there are no positive terms, only differences. This means that language only refers to language; that words are only distinct because they are not other words. Imagine looking for a definition of a word in a dictionary. When one finds the definition it consists of only other words. This endless [[Signifying chain|chain of signifiers ]] is halted by the master-signifier.
The master-signifier is a signifier that points to ''itself'' instead of other signifiers. Žižek refers to Marx's conception of commodity fetishism as an example of a master-signifier:
