How did John Locke describe words as signs of ideas in the mind?

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Austrian postage stamp featuring a portrait of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, with German text above and below, and a denomination of 5 schillings. — Philosophy of language An Austrian stamp depicting Ludwig Wittgenstein.

In the philosophy of language, John Locke posited that words function as signs that stand for ideas within the mind of the speaker. Because human thoughts are inherently private, Locke argued that individuals use these linguistic signs to convey their internal ideas to others.12

Locke further maintained that while only particular, individual things exist in reality, language often employs general terms. To bridge this gap, he proposed that words serve as labels for both particular ideas and general ideas. He explained that general ideas are formed through the process of abstraction, where the mind identifies and retains only the common qualities shared by specific objects—such as the three sides common to all triangles—while discarding their unique, individual properties.12