Wiktionary

signature

English edit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Middle French signature, or from Medieval Latin signātūra, future active periphrastic of verb signāre (“to sign”) from signum (“sign”), + -tūra, feminine of -tūrus, future active periphrastic suffix. Displaced native Old English handseten (literally “hand setting”).

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃə(ɹ)/, /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (US) enPR: sĭg′nəchər, sĭg′nĭchər, IPA(key): /ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃɚ/, /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃɚ/
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

Noun edit

signature (plural signatures)

  2. A person's name, written by that person, used as identification or to signify approval of accompanying material, such as a legal contract.
    • 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
      Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language […] his clerks […] understood him very well. If he had written a love letter, or a farce, or a ballade, or a story, no one, either clerks, or friends, or compositors, would have understood anything but a word here and a word there. For his signature, however, that was different.
  3. An act of signing one's name; an act of producing a signature.
    • 1977, Illinois Information Service, Press Summary - Illinois Information Service, page 4287:
      IN COMMENTS during signature of the bill yesterday during “Agriculture Day” at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Thompson agreed with farmers that land needs to be protected.
    • 2011, Winifred Holtby, The Crowded Street, Virago, →ISBN:
      [She ate with herself] during the whole evening, during supper, during her signature of unintelligible papers at her father's desk, when he told her gruffly that she would now have an income of £350 a year minus income tax, which would return to her in some mysterious way  […]
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:signature.
  4. (medicine) The part of a doctor’s prescription containing directions for the patient.
  5. (music) Signs on the stave indicating key and tempo, composed of the key signature and the time signature.
  6. (printing) A group of four (or a multiple of four) sheets printed such that, when folded, they become a section of a book.
  7. (computing) A pattern used for matching the identity of a virus, the parameter types of a method, etc.
  8. (cryptography) Data attached to a message that guarantees that the message originated from its claimed source.
  9. (figurative) A mark or sign of implication.
    • 1692, Richard Bentley, [A Confutation of Atheism] (please specify the sermon), London: [Thomas Parkhurst; Henry Mortlock], published 1692–1693:
      the natural and indelible signature of God, which human souls […] are supposed to be stamped with
    • 1975, United States. Office of Noise Abatement and Control, First Report on Status and Progress of Noise Research and Control Programs in the Federal Government, volume 1, pages 6–13:
      The TACOM Vehicle Signature Reduction program is concerned with reducing the noise signature detectability of military vehicles in combat.
    • 1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, Totem Books, Icon Books, →ISBN, The Renaissance Episteme, page 67:
      A “signature” was placed on all things by God to indicate their affinities — but it was hidden, hence the search for arcane knowledge. Knowing was guessing and interpreting, not observing or demonstrating.
  10. A dish that is characteristic of a particular chef.
    • 2000, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Frommer's Rome 2001, page 97:
      A great beginning is the goose-liver terrine with truffles, one of the chef's signatures.
  11. (mathematics) A tuple specifying the sign of coefficients in any diagonal form of a quadratic form.
  12. (medicine, obsolete) A resemblance between the external character of a disease and those of some physical agent, for instance, that existing between the red skin of scarlet fever and a red cloth; supposed to indicate this agent in the treatment of the disease.
  13. (Internet) Text (or images, etc.) appended to a user's emails, newsgroup posts, forum posts, etc. as a way of adding a personal touch or including contact details.
    Synonyms: sig, siggy
    Your signature must not exceed three lines of text, or 600 pixels in height.
    forum signature generator

Hyponyms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also edit

Adjective edit

signature (not generally comparable, comparative more signature, superlative most signature)

  1. Distinctive, characteristic, indicative of identity.
    Synonym: iconic
    Rabbit in mustard sauce is my signature dish.
    The signature route of the airline is its daily flight between Buenos Aires and Madrid.
    • 2001, Lawrence J. Vale, Sam Bass Warner, Imaging the city: continuing struggles and new directions:
      Consider Las Fallas of Valencia, Spain, arguably the most signature of signature ephemera.
    • 2005, Paul Duchscherer, Linda Svendsen, Beyond the bungalow: grand homes in the arts & crafts tradition:
      Considered the most signature effect of the Tudor Revival style, half-timbering derived its distinctive […] .
    • 2005, Brett Dawson, Tales from the 2004-05 Fighting Illini:
      But it was perhaps the most signature shot Williams ever made in an Illinois uniform, a bullying basket in which he used his power to pound Stoudamire, […] .
    • 2005, CBS News website, Paul Winchell Dead At Age 82:
      He credited his wife, who is British, for giving him the inspiration for Tigger’s signature phrase: TTFN. TA-TA for now.

Translations edit

References edit

  • “signature”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams edit

French edit

Etymology edit

From signer +‎ -ture; cf. Medieval Latin signatura.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

signature f (plural signatures)

  1. signature (a person's name written in their own handwriting)
    désavouer sa signature
  2. the act of signing
    Le décret est à la signature.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

Latin edit

Participle edit

signātūre

  1. vocative masculine singular of signātūrus
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=signature&oldid=78546256"