signature
noun
- written mark as proof of identity
- mark of the creator on a work to identify themselves as such (name, initials, monogram)
- signing of a treaty, decree, law, etc.
- starting material for making newspapers
adjective
- characteristic
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsɪɡ.nə.t͡ʃə/ / /ˈsɪɡ.nɪ.t͡ʃə/ / /ˈsɪɡ.nə.t͡ʃɚ/
adj
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French signature, or from Medieval Latin signātūra, future active periphrastic of verb signāre from signum (“sign”), + -tūra, feminine of -tūrus, future active periphrastic suffix. Displaced native Old English handseten (literally “hand setting”).
- Distinctive, characteristic, indicative of identity.
“Rabbit in mustard sauce is my signature dish.”
“The signature route of the airline is its daily flight between Buenos Aires and Madrid.”
noun
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French signature, or from Medieval Latin signātūra, future active periphrastic of verb signāre from signum (“sign”), + -tūra, feminine of -tūrus, future active periphrastic suffix. Displaced native Old English handseten (literally “hand setting”).
- A person's name, written by that person, used as identification or to signify approval of accompanying material, such as a legal contract.
“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.”
- An act of signing one's name; an act of producing a signature.
“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.”
“[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 […]”
- The part of a doctor’s prescription containing directions for the patient.
- Signs on the stave indicating key and tempo, composed of the key signature and the time signature.
- A group of four (or a multiple of four) sheets printed such that, when folded, they become a section of a book.
- A pattern used for matching the identity of a virus, the parameter types of a method, etc.
- Data attached to a message that guarantees that the message originated from its claimed source.
- A mark or sign of implication.
“the natural and indelible signature of God, which human souls […] are supposed to be stamped with”
“The TACOM Vehicle Signature Reduction program is concerned with reducing the noise signature detectability of military vehicles in combat.”
- A distinguishing feature or product.
“A great beginning is the goose-liver terrine with truffles, one of the chef's signatures.”
- A tuple specifying the sign of coefficients in any diagonal form of a quadratic form.
- 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.
- 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.
“Your signature must not exceed three lines of text, or 600 pixels in height.”
“forum signature generator”
verb
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French signature, or from Medieval Latin signātūra, future active periphrastic of verb signāre from signum (“sign”), + -tūra, feminine of -tūrus, future active periphrastic suffix. Displaced native Old English handseten (literally “hand setting”).
- To sign with one's signature, to write one's signature on.