signature
Etymology

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.

Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃə(ɹ)/, /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/
  • (US) enPR: sĭg′nəchər, sĭg′nĭchər, IPA: /ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃɚ/, /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃɚ/
  • (Australia) IPA: /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/
Noun

signature (plural signatures)

  1. 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.
  2. An act of signing one's name; an act of producing a signature.
  3. (medicine) The part of a doctor’s prescription containing directions for the patient.
  4. (music) Signs on the stave indicating key and tempo, composed of the key signature and the time signature.
  5. (printing) A group of four (or a multiple of four) sheets printed such that, when folded, they become a section of a book.
  6. (computing) A pattern used for matching the identity of a virus, the parameter types of a method, etc.
  7. (cryptography) Data attached to a message that guarantees that the message originated from its claimed source.
  8. (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.
  9. A dish that is characteristic of a particular chef.
  10. (mathematics) A tuple specifying the sign of coefficients in any diagonal form of a quadratic form.
  11. (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.
  12. (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
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Adjective

signature (not comparable)

  1. Distinctive, characteristic, indicative of identity.
    Synonyms: 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#English|TTFN. TA-TA for now.
Translations


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