Signature Meaning
/ˈsɪɡ.nə.t͡ʃə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person's name, written by that person, used as identification or to signify approval of accompanying material, such as a legal contract.
nounAn act of signing one's name; an act of producing a signature.
Sentence Examples
Please return one set to us with your signature.
The document bore his signature.
Someone had forged her signature on the cheque.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The bank teller compared the customer's ____ with the one on the old file.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please remember to provide your ____ at the bottom of the contract to make the agreement legally binding.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
"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."
— 1977, Illinois Information Service, Press Summary - Illinois Information Service, page 4287:
"[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 […]"
— 2011, Winifred Holtby, The Crowded Street, Virago, →ISBN:
"the natural and indelible signature of God, which human souls […] are supposed to be stamped with"
— 1692, Richard Bentley, [A Confutation of Atheism] (please specify the sermon), London: [Thomas Parkhurst; Henry Mortlock], published 1692–1693:
"The TACOM Vehicle Signature Reduction program is concerned with reducing the noise signature detectability of military vehicles in combat."
— 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:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The bank teller compared the customer's ____ with the one on the old file.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please remember to provide your ____ at the bottom of the contract to make the agreement legally binding.