| 释义 |
▪ I. sign, n.|saɪn|
Forms: α. 3–6 sygne, 3–7 signe (4 sigine?), 5–6 sygn (5 sygyn?), 4– sign; 4–5 singne, 4–5 syngne (5 synn-); 4, 6–7 Sc. sing(e, 5–6 Sc. syng(e, 5 senge). β. 4–7 sine, 4–6 syne (4 synne, 5 syn, cyne, scien, 6 Sc. synd).
[a. F. signe, † sine, ad. L. signum mark, token, etc.]
I.
1. a. A gesture or motion of the hand, head, etc., serving to convey an intimation or to communicate some idea. Freq. in the phrases to make a sign or signs, and by signs.
a1225Ancr. R. 70 Heo schal habben leaue to..makien signes touward hire of one glede chere. c1350Will. Palerne 2740 To þe hert & þe hinde he turned him a-ȝeine, & bi certeyn signes sone he hem tauȝt. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2367 Philomene, She..preyede hym with signys to gon Vn-to the queen..And be signys swor hym manye an oth [etc.]. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 100 Þai speke noȝt, bot..makez signes as mounkes duse. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 467, I have ane secrete serwand,..That me supportis of sic nedis, quhen I a syne mak. 1530Palsgr. 702/2 I spake nothyng to him, but I shewed hym of it by signe otherwise. 1595Shakes. John iv. ii. 237 Thou didst vnderstand me by my signes, And didst in signes againe parley with sinne. 1626Bacon New Atl. 4 Warning us off by signes that they made. 1664Butler Hud. ii. ii. 758 Then Hudibras, with face and hand, Made signs for Silence. 1712Steele Spect. No. 454 ⁋4 The Coachmen make Signs with their Fingers..to intimate how much they have got that Day. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest x, The moment Peter saw her he made a sign of silence. 1839F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 37 More by signs and dumb show than words. 1873Dixon Two Queens xvi. ii. III. 193 Scores of starving men were ready on a sign to hunt him down.
†b. A show or pretence of something. Obs.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 10 He made signe of etyng and feyned as he had etyn. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 230 The whyche..made to hym synge of loue and of subgectyon..vnder the shadowe of decepcyon. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 91 b, Then he and all his companye made a signe of retraite.
c. A signal.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. v. i. 23 Mark Antony, shall we giue signe of Battaile?.. No Cæsar. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 298 The Charioteers started their horses upon a signe given. 1678Life Black Prince in Harleian Misc. (1809) III. 144 The sign of battle, being given by King Philip, was entertained with clamours and shouts. 1708Chamberlayne Pres. St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 349 From the top..they made a Sign by Fire, when they apprehended any imminent Danger. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam x. vii, With secret signs from many a mountain-tower, With smoke by day, and fire by night.
2. a. A mark or device having some special meaning or import attached to it, or serving to distinguish the thing on which it is put.
Freq. in sign of the cross (cf. cross n. 3 b).
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 84 Heo made þe signe of þe croiz. 13..Cursor M. 6078 (Gött.), On ilk a post..A sine of tau τ make ȝe þer. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xv. 40 Crist cam and confermede and holy kirke made, And in sond a sygne wrot. c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1040 Vertew commaundyd euery wyght To pauyse hym vndyr the sygne of the roode. c1440Pallad. on Husb. xi. 22 Now nede is sette a signe on euery vyne That fertile is, sciouns of hit to take For settyng. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 26 b, Marked..not onely with the sygne of the crosse in our garmentis,..but also (I trust) with the sygne of tau in our soules. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 334 With his crosiers staffe [he] maketh the signe of the crosse upon the highest walles. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. ii. vi, Observing that several Herbs are marked with some Mark or Sign that intimates their virtue. 1733Berkeley Th. Vision Vind. §40 A great number of arbitrary signs, various and opposite, do constitute a Language. 1769Robertson Chas. V, State Europe Note x, It was usual for persons who could not write, to make the sign of the cross in confirmation of a charter. 1833N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 236 The common visual signs on the retina..are of all signs the most readily learned or understood. 1884Cath. Dict. (1897) 258/1 The Church, accustomed to bless everything with the sign of the cross.
†b. A bookmark; = register n.1 7 a. Obs.—0
1483Cath. Angl. 340/1 A Syne of a buke, registrum.
c. A conventional mark, device, or symbol, used technically (as in music, algebra, botany, etc.) in place of words or names written in ordinary letters.
1557Recorde Whetst. S j b, Nombers Cossike, are soche as bee contracte vnto a denomination of some Cossike signe. Ibid. S ij b, There be other .2. signes in often vse, of whiche the firste is made thus + and betokeneth more: the other is made - and betokeneth lesse. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 104 The note whereupon the following part must begin, is marked with this signe .?. 1609Dowland Ornith. Microl. 87 A signe is the successiue distribution of one and the same Close, in.. a Song. 1662Playford Skill Mus. i. x. (1674) 32 The Perfect of the Less..; its Sign or Mark is made thus. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Character, Ordinarily..in Algebra, the Sign [of multiplication] is omitted, and the two Quantities put together. 1832Lindley Introd. Bot. 422 In botany a variety of marks, or signs, are employed to express particular qualities or properties of plants. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 150 Two minus signs in arithmetic or algebra make a plus.
†d. Math. A point. Obs. rare.
1570Billingsley Euclid i. def. 1, A signe or point is that which hath no part. Ibid., Vnity..is lesse materiall then a signe or poynt.
e. Math. That aspect of a quantity which may be either positive or negative.
1820G. Peacock Differential & Integral Calculus 112 The sign of d2u may be easily determined. 1836A. de Morgan Differential & Integral Calculus xiv. 369 When there is a change of sign, y is a maximum (M), or a minimum (m), according as the change is from + to - or from - to + (x increasing). 1924G. F. Swain Structural Engin. xiii. 350 It is obvious that n1 will have the same sign as ft, and n2 the opposite sign. 1957G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. ix. 597 Where biochemical oxygen uptake or production occurs, no general rule as to the sign of the divergence from saturation will be possible. 1978C. P. McKeague Elem. Algebra i. 23 To multiply any two real numbers simply multiply their absolute values, the sign of the answer is 1. positive if both numbers had the same sign..2. negative if the numbers had opposite signs.
†3. A mark of attestation (or ownership), written or stamped upon a document, seal, etc. Obs.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 82 Þe Deede was a-selet, Be siht of sir Symoni and Notaries signes. 1377Ibid. B. xx. 270, I wolde..þat ȝe were in þe Registre, And ȝowre noumbre vndre notaries sygne. c1460Oseney Reg. 133 The forsaide x. acris..lien in the Northefelde of the foresaide towne with owre syne woonyd i-seeled. 1474Caxton Chesse ii. i. (1883) 22 Not only her promises but their othes her sealis and wrytynges & signes of their propre handes. 1558in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 388 In wittnes hereof we have..set hereunto our signes and common sealle. 1609Bible (Douay) Jer. xxxii. 44 The fieldes..shal be written in a booke, and the signe shal be stamped on, and a witnes shal be taken.
†4. A figure or image; a statue or effigy; an imprint. Obs.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 112 Bere no seluer ouer see þat bereþ signe of þe kyng. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 229 Þere is anoþere signe and tokene to fore þe popes paleys; an hors of bras and a man sittynge þeron. c1440Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1903) 152 Ther ys ȝette a syne of his fote On a marbull stone þer as he stode. 1589Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxix. (1602) 143 For often Vprores did ensue for him, as vndeceast, Howbeit solemnely inter'd, himselfe, or Signe at least.
†5.
a. A device borne on a banner, shield, etc.; a cognizance or badge. Obs.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 158 Ane Croiz, þat Man fer isaiȝ,.. Þat was signe of is baner. c1350Will. Palerne 3213 Swete sire, ȝe me saye what signe is þe leuest to haue schape in þi scheld to schene armes? 1399Rolls of Parlt. III. 452 That thei..gyf no Liverees of Sygnes, no make no Retenue of men. c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 355 A garland of yuy he [Bacchus] chase for hys sygne. 1461Coventry Leet-bk. ii. 319 [That they] neyther were ne vse oure most honnorable signe, nor any other lordes or gentilles signe, tokyn or lyuere. 1562Legh Armorie 47, I will therfore shewe you of signes yt are borne, and do occupie the same Escocheon.
b. Something displayed as an emblem or token; esp. an ensign, banner, standard. Obs.
c1400Song Roland 503 An C thoussand of good men..with proud synes of silk lifte on loft. c1440York Myst. xvii. 222 Vn-to þat Prince I rede we praye, That till vs sente his syngne [sc. the star] vnsoght. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 305/1 He is had among the companye of Angels as banerer and berynge the signe of oure lord. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxviii. 4 The signe trivmphall rasit is of the croce. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scotl. II. 300 Monie standarts and syngis..left be the Jnglismen, be the Scotis ar tane. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 776 The great Ensign of Messiah blaz'd Aloft by Angels born, his Sign in Heav'n.
c. spec. A pilgrim's token. Obs.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 12 An hundred of ampolles on his hat seeten, Signes of Synay and Schelles of Galys. c1400Beryn 171 Then, as manere & custom is, signes þere þey bouȝte. Ibid. 175, 191.
d. pl. Insignia. Obs. rare.
1591Spenser M. Hubberd 1016 Yet at the last..He all those royall signes had stolne away.
6. a. A characteristic device attached to, or placed in front of, an inn († house) or shop, as a means of distinguishing it from others or directing attention to it; in later use commonly a board bearing a name or other inscription, with or without some ornament or picture. Also, a board giving information, directions, etc.
1467in Eng. Gilds (1870) 405 That no person sille none ale out of his place, but he haue a signe at his dorre. c1470Promp. Parv. (K.) 456/1 Syne of an in. 1539Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 42 The Englysh prouerbe is this. Good wyne nedeth no signe. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. ii. 67 Vnderneath an Ale-house paltry signe, The Castle in S. Albons. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 156, I did never see nor heare that they have any publike Innes with signes hanging out. 1667Primatt City & C. Build. 69 Note, That they weigh with the Balconie, the Bars that are to fasten the sign thereunto. 1727Swift Imit. Horace ii. vi. 72 To read the Lines Writ underneath the Country Signs. 1780Mirror No. 82 Putting up their pictures as signs for their taverns and ale-houses. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 91 The signs of the shops are very elegant;—that is to say, they are elegant for signs. 1859Jephson Brittany ix. 134 The first thing that met my eye..was a sign over a public-house. 1904, etc. [see road sign s.v. road n. 9 b].
fig.1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. viii. 20 Fools! who to perswade men that Angels lodged in their hearts, hung out a devil for a signe in their faces. a1684Leighton Wks. (1816) 429 Fantastic garb in apparel, which is the very bush or sign hanging out, that tells a vain mind lodges within. 1825Scott Talism. iv, I am but the vile and despised sign, which points out to the wearied traveller a harbour of rest and security, but must itself remain for ever without doors.
b. In phr. at the sign of (the Bell, Sun, etc.).
1501Alcock's Mons Perfect. Colophon, Enprynted at London in flete strete at the sygne of y⊇ sonne by Wynkin de worde. 1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 12 One little lane stretching from the said way, to the signe of the bell at Drewry lane ende. 1672Heath's Flagellum Title-p., Sold at his Shop at the Signe of the Crown. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 94 We baited at an inn, at the sign of the Falcon. 1749Fielding Tom Jones viii. viii, Chose for their house of entertainment the sign of the Bell. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xx, An appointment to meet with the others of his company at the sign of the Griffin.
†c. at the sign of the moon, in the open air by night. (After Fr. à l'enseigne de la lune.) Obs.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage iii. x. (1614) 294 They often lodge (saith Willamont) at the signe of the Moone; and the like moderation they vse in diet and apparel. 1679G. R. tr. Boaistuau's Theat. World ii. 107 The Souldier is for the most part always waking, having his Quarters at the Sign of the Moon.
II.
7. a. A token or indication (visible or otherwise) of some fact, quality, etc. Also the signs of the times, indications of current trends; now freq. as sing. phr. with leading indef. article.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3744 Þer nas nour aboute kniȝt..bot hii of sute were Of king arthures hous, oþer som signe þer of bere, Of robes oþer of armes. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 489 Þat was þe syngne of sauyte þat sende hem oure lorde. c1386Chaucer Melib. §53 It is signe of gentil herte whan a man..desireth to han a good name. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 181 If þe place be whijt & neische..it is a signe of fleume. 1484Caxton Fables of Avian viii, [He] hath shewed to the grete sygne or token of loue. 1525Bible (Tyndale) (1526) Matt. xvi. 3 Can ye not discerne the sygnes of the tymes? a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) C iii b, He bare in his hande the signe or token of the office, wherby he lyued. 1594in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 285 All with black hoods, which with us is a signe of gentlewomen. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 228 Though it be no signe of a more polished, yet is it a marke of a greater wit. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 670 The Causes and the Signs..Of ev'ry Sickness that infects the Fold. 1750Gray Long Story 89 [It was] no sign of grace, For folks in fear are apt to pray. 1829T. L. Peacock Misfort. Elphin x, They here found..materials of spinning and embroidering, and other signs of female inhabitancy. 1833Daily Nat. Intelligencer 17 July 3/3 We have stood upon our ‘reserved rights’ of neutrality, to watch the signs of the times. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola xxii, Working people..bearing on their dress or persons the signs of their daily labour. 1874Green Short Hist. iv. §5. 202 The exile of Gaveston was the sign of the Barons' triumph. 1907Nature 14 Mar. 459/1 This book is an interesting sign of the times. 1921J. Galsworthy To Let ii. xi. 214 ‘He's a sign of the times,’ muttered Soames, ‘if you like.’ 1953A. J. Toynbee World & West vi. 93 The people who have read the signs of the times and have taken action in the light of these indications are the obscure missionaries of half-a-dozen Oriental religions. 1977Gay News 24 Mar. 19/3 Last year, perhaps as a sign of the times, Take Six notched up over 80 mentions in everything from the Daily Mirror to the Italian glossioso L'Uomo.
b. Used without const., or with clause following.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 258 Signes of þe olde lawe weren toknes of oure signes now, as þei ben tokenes of þe blisse of hevene. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 232 They haue many tokenys or syngnes by wych a man may deme the Physnomye. 1483Caxton Cato 5 Of the foure Sygnes or tokens by whiche is knowen trewe loue. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 55 b, To axe of God a sygne wherby he maye testifie, that he careth for us. a1656Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 192 The thing signed is usually put for the sign itself. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. x. (1695) 277 The using of Words, without clear and distinct Ideas; or, which is worse, signs without any thing signified. 1766Gray Impromptus 12 A sign you have eat just enough and no more. 1833Tennyson Two Voices 270 Know I not Death? the outward signs? 1885S. O. Jewett Marsh Island xii, She never had given a single sign that she loved or meant to marry him. 1890W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xxii. 356 Language is a system of signs, different from the things signified, but able to suggest them. c1902C. S. Peirce Coll. Papers (1932) II. §92 Genuine mediation is the character of a Sign. 1922tr. Wittgenstein's Tractatus 53 The sign is the part of the symbol perceptible by the senses. 1938C. W. Morris (title) Foundations of the theory of signs. 1947,1949[see signifiant]. 1954[see signifier b]. 1964Gould & Kolb Dict. Soc. Sci. 641/2 Sign denotes any stimulus which, because of association with another stimulus, elicits a response appropriate to but in the absence of the original stimulus. 1978Incorporated Linguist Summer 60/3 Modern society's haste to read inadvertently into signs (in the Barthesian sense) rather than decipher the simple message. 1979S. G. J. Hervey Axiomatic Semantics vii. 61 By the law of excluded middle, any given sign is either simple or complex, but not both.
c. Without article, in phr. in sign of (or that).
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3986 Branches hii bere Of oliue, as in signe þat hii aȝen pays nere. a1300Cursor M. 5121 He kist þam all in signe o saght. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 98 In signe þat I schulde bi-sechen hire of grace. 1474Caxton Chesse ii. iv. (1883) 44 The kynge..gyrdeth a boute them a swerde in signe that they shold abyde and kepe hym. 1546Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 30 In signe and takin herof my Lord Governour hes takyn baith thair handis. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. viii. 26 In signe of truth, I kisse your Highnesse Hand. 1611Sir W. Mure Mes Amours 39 Receaue, in sing that thou hes won the field, The bow. 1718Pope Iliad x. 321 In sign she favour'd their intent, A long-wing'd heron great Minerva sent. 1865Mill Exam. Hamilton 381 An animal is called a bull, in sign of its possessing certain attributes.
d. Theol. Phr. outward visible sign and varr., in sacramental ordinances, the outward and visible aspect which symbolizes the inward and spiritual aspect. Also transf.
1553J. Bradford in Coverdale Lett. Martyrs (1564) 293 There is Idolatry in worshipping the outwarde signe of breade and wyne. 1604Bk. Com. Prayer, Catechism, Q. How many partes be there in a Sacrament? A. Two: the Outward visible signe, and the Inward spirituall Grace. c1816J. Marriott Hymn, Grant to this child the inward grace, While we the outward sign impart. 1861tr. O Food that Weary Pilgrims Love! in Hymns, Anc. & Mod. (Introits & Anthems) p. xvii, O Jesu, Whom, by power divine Now hidden 'neath the outward sign, We worship and adore. 1898A. G. Mortimer Cath. Faith & Practice I. 124 The matter [of a sacrament] is the outward sign; the form that which determines the matter to its special use or purpose. 1921J. Galsworthy To Let iii. x. 288 In the union of the great-granddaughter..with the heir of a ninth baronet was the outward and visible sign of that merger of class in class which buttresses the political stability of a realm. 1931V. Dixon Sebastian Wile ii. ii. §1 Her governess had said farewell, outward and visible sign that Martha's days of childish servitude were over. 1938Doctrine in Church of England ii. 127 The ordinary scholastic use is to employ the word [sc. sacrament] as meaning the outward and visible sign. 1951A. Powell Question of Upbringing iii. 157 Monsieur Dubuisson accepted the brandy as the outward and visible sign of reconciliation. 1962Wilson & Templeton Anglican Teaching ix. 180 The Catechism..defines a Sacrament as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace..ordained by Christ Himself’.
e. U.S. The trail or trace of wild animals, etc.
Sometimes in pl., but the sing. is the technical use.
1692Cal. Virginia St. Papers (1875) I. 44 We Ranged about to see if we could find ye tract of any Indians, but we could not see any fresh signe. 1746New Hampsh. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1834) IV. 208 By the sign of this ambush, and by the sign of their going off, in a single file, it was supposed there could not be less than 50 or 60 Indians. 1821J. Fowler Jrnl. 3 Nov. (1898) 33 Heare We find the first fresh Sign of bever. Ibid. 7 Nov. 36 We see old sign of Indeans... We again See the Sign of White men a Head of us. 1847G. F. Ruxton Mexico & Rocky Mts. xxi. 170 On the banks of the river I saw some fresh beaver ‘sign’. Ibid., We saw Indian sign on the banks of the river. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxxii. 243 Buffalo ‘signs’ appeared as we rode into them. 1890L. D'Oyle Notches 68 We had noticed bear ‘sign’ in a thick patch of rose-bushes. Ibid., Lots of fresh ‘sign’, but no bear.
f. Med. An objective evidence or indication of disease (as opposed to a subjective one, or symptom); often used with the name of one who associated an indication with a disease characterized by it, to designate the former.
1842W. A. Guy Hooper's Physician's Vademecum (new ed.) i. iii. 16 The word sign has not precisely the same meaning as the term symptom, though the two terms are sometimes used without much discrimination... Cough, expectoration, dyspnœa, hectic fever, night sweats, and emaciation, are symptoms of pulmonary consumption, but they are not signs, for each of them may occur in other diseases; but cavernous respiration and pectoriloquy are signs. Ibid., The term physical sign is in common use among medical men: it means a sign which is an object of sense. Thus heat, redness, and swelling are physical signs of inflammation, pectoriloquy of phthisis, coagulable urine of disease of the kidney. 1851R. P. Cotton Phthisis & Stethoscope i. 12 Physical signs by themselves, as a general rule, determine nothing more than physical conditions..; hence it is, that we require the use of other rules, as well as a knowledge of the patient's history and general symptoms. Ibid. ii. 24 Diminished resonance is one of the earliest and most characteristic signs of phthisis. 1872W. Williams Princ. & Pract. Vet. Surg. xiii. 244 The diagnostic signs of elbow-joint lameness are, first, the semi-flexed position of the limb..whilst standing still; and the dropping of the head and anterior parts of the body during action. 1886J. Finlayson Clin. Manual for Study Med. Cases (ed. 2) ii. 51 A pain is a ‘Symptom’ (subjective); a bulging chest, to which it may be due, is a ‘Sign’ (objective): giddiness is a ‘Symptom’ (subjective); the staggering resulting from it is a ‘Sign’ (objective). 1908Practitioner Jan. 10 We do not obtain ankle clonus, or Babinsky's, or Oppenheim's sign. 1927G. W. Deeping Kitty xv. 193 Mr. St. George had an undoubted paraplegia. There was definite spasticity of the lower limbs... Babinski's sign was present. 1956A. I. Littlejohn tr. D. Wirth's Vet. Clin. Diagnosis 1 Symptoms in the medical sense are not available to the veterinary diagnostician, but the substitution of the term ‘symptom’ for ‘sign’ in veterinary usage is widespread. 1971S. Magalini Dict. Med. Syndromes 148/1 Dercum's [syndrome]... Symptoms. Prevalent in women 40 to 60 years of age. Pain in part of body where localized accumulation of fat occurs. Asthenia, headache... Signs. Subcutaneous accumulation of fat elevated, dry, reddish, or bluish, anesthesia and diminished cutaneous sensibility. 1974T. McGinnis Well Dog Bk. (1979) 95 Because your dogs cannot describe their feelings in words, they technically have no symptoms, only signs which are any objective evidence of disease or injury you can detect.
8. a. A trace or indication of something; a vestige. Chiefly in negative phrases.
13..Seuyn Sag. 2934 (W.), So he traueld monethes thre, And no signe of hyr kowth he se. 1390Gower Conf. III. 315 With the craftes whiche he couthe, He soghte and fond a signe of lif. c1440York Myst. xi. 100, I se ȝondyr a ful selcouth syght, Wher-of be-for no synge was seene. 1567Allen Def. Priesthood 228 Wherof yet in most Churches ther remaineth a smal signe, by disciplin geuen [etc.]. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxv. iii, [No] signe of sound their throates can show. 1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) II. 66 The Aqueducts..whose Ruins and Signs are to be seen on the Road. 1726Swift Gulliver i. i, I..could not discover any Sign of Houses or Inhabitants. 1795Ann. Reg., Hist. 109 No signs of such an intention were perceivable. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxx. 407 There is no sign of life in this wild place.
†b. A mere semblance of something. Obs.
1607Breton A Murmurer Wks. (Grosart) II. 8/2 Oh fine foole, how thou wouldest haue the signe of a man stand for a man? 1673Dryden Marr. à-la-Mode ii. i, If it be but to punish that sign of a Husband there; that lazy Matrimony. 1693Congreve Old Bach. iii. iii, I would not have you draw yourself into a premunire, by trusting to that sign of a man there.
9. An indication of some coming event; spec. an omen or portent.
13..Cursor M. 22430 (Gött.), Forn domes-dai þai sal be sene, wid sorful sines ful fijf-tene. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 165 Soche þey declareþ certeynliche by schewynge of tokenes and of synnes [v.r. synes] þat beeþ in suche a schulder boon. 1513Douglas æneid iv. viii, How Dido send hir sistir Enee to pray, And of the grisly singis did hir affray. 1542Boorde Dyetary xl. (1870) 302 That there is lykle [sic] hope of amendment, but sygnes of deth. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. vi. 44 The Owle shriek'd at thy birth, an euill signe. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 94 The auncient Iewes had this saying, that it is bonum omen, a good signe to see an old man in a house. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Clouds, When..waterish Clouds appear on the Tops of Hills, it is a Sign of Rain to follow. 1793Cowper Tale 61 Seamen much believe in signs. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam x. xvi, These signs the coming mischief did foretell. 1833Tennyson May Queen iii. x, If it come three times, I thought, I take it for a sign.
10. a. An act of a miraculous nature, serving to demonstrate divine power or authority.
In Biblical use, after L. signum, Gr. σηµεῖον.
a1300Cursor M. 13420 Þis was þe formast sign he did. Ibid. 13438 Sli signe did crist at þis bridall. 1382Wyclif Acts iv. 22 The man was more than of fourty ȝeeris, in the which this sygne of heelthe was maad. 1611Bible Acts ii. 43 Many wonders and signes were done by the Apostles. 1665J. Spencer Vulg. Proph. 59 But every Sign is not (if we speak accurately) a Miracle. 1727De Foe Syst. Magic i. iii. (1840) 73 Pharaoh, in contempt of Moses and Aaron, and the sign or miracle they had shown. 1876Mellor Priesth. iv. 179 His hearers no sooner caught the word ‘faith’, than they demanded a sign which might warrant it.
†b. A marvel or wonder. Obs.—1
a1400–50Alexander 4934 Sire, þou sall see with þi siȝt slike signes, or þou passe, As neuire segge vndire son saȝe bot þine ane.
11. Astr.
a. One or other of the twelve equal divisions of the Zodiac, each distinguished by the name of a constellation and frequently denoted by a special symbol.
c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4803 Þe twelfte day aftir, þe sternes alle And þe signes fra þe heven sal falle. 1390Gower Conf. III. 108 Ther ben signes tuelve, Whiche have her cercles be hemselve Compassed in the zodiaque. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 2 Whan Phebus whas..yronne Out of the signe, wiche callyd is aquary. 1483Caxton Cato e v b, The man whych is borne in a good planette or sygne. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxii. (Percy Soc.) 105 He sette..The bodies above to have their moving, In the xii. signes them selfe to domify. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 279 At that tyme the soonne was in the north signes. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 182 Vnder what Signe in heaven Britaine lieth. a1646J. Gregory Posthuma (1650) 299 Now look what Sign of the twelv shall bee found to rise up in the Horoscope or Angle of the East, that is the Sign-Regent of that Hous or Citie. 1709Steele Tatler No. 100 § 3, I was looking..on that Sign in the Heavens which is called by the Name of the Ballance. 1812Woodhouse Astron. xxix. 289 The motions of Jupiter's satellites are according to the order of the signs. 1868Lockyer Elem. Astron. §37 These are called the zodiacal constellations (very carefully to be distinguished..from the signs of the zodiac bearing the same name).
†b. A constellation. Obs. rare.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xxiii. (Bodl. MS), Arcturus is a signe ymade of vij. sterres. Ibid., Orioun is a signe that ariseth in wintere. 1490Caxton Eneydos xii. 46 The sygne of Oryon. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Orion..was..translated among the sterres, & there is the signe called in latine Jugula. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Orion.
III. 12. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) sign-language (also fig.), sign-maker, sign-speech, sign-talk; (sense 2 c) sign-symbol; (sense 5) sign-mark; (sense 6) sign-iron, sign-painter, sign-writer (writer 1 b), sign-writing; (sense 7) sign-situation, sign-system, sign-using vbl. n. and ppl. adj., sign-word; (sense 11) † sign-carrier.
1653R. Sanders Physiogn. 1 A Zodiack..; the Latins call it Signifer, that is to say, *Sign-carrier.
1778Phil. Trans. LXIX. 44 On passing through the streets of London in his walks, before the *sign-irons were taken down. 1836in Hist. Chesterfield (1839) 45 Having a sign, sign-iron, sign⁓post, or shew-board suspended from or in front of such house.
1847T. H. Gallandet in Amer. Ann. Deaf & Dumb I. 59 They originate from elements of this *sign-language which nature furnishes to man wherever he is found, whether barbarous or civilized. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. ii. 25 The teacher remarked that I did not seem to be quite a beginner in the sign-language. 1960S. Plath Colossus 39 These..sheets..Speak in sign language of a lost other⁓world. 1981Amer. Speech LVI. 130 Sign language is as adequate for the deaf as any vocal-auditory language is for a hearing person.
1889Mivart Orig. Hum. Reason 66 Such a movement is a true ‘sign’, being a movement made depicting a fact with the intention of conveying to other minds the ideas of the *sign-maker.
1840Browning Sordello iv. 387 The Kaiser's ominous *sign-mark had first place, The crowned grim twy-necked eagle.
1725New-Eng. Courant 15 Feb. 1/2, I would oblige every *Sign-Painter to serve seven Years at College, before he presum'd to handle Pencil or Paint-Box. 1776Burney Hist. Mus. I. 221 The painter should have had about the same degree of merit with a good sign-painter in Europe. 1814Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary (1862) II. 346 For fear the head should not be recognised as the saint's, a brown cap is put upon it by the sign-painter. 1942Burlington Mag. Jan. 9/1 Ireland takes this sketch as a proof that Hogarth contemplated setting up as a sign-painter.
1923Ogden & Richards Meaning of Meaning i. 15 There may be a very long chain of *sign-situations intervening between the act and its referent. 1977Dædalus Fall 105 Literature..though it is..a form of communication..is cut off from the immediate pragmatic purposes which simplify other sign situations.
1873Cayley in Messenger Math. II. 17 Theorems in Relation to Certain *Sign-Symbols.
1924R. H. Bell Mystery of Words 101 A study of the general principles of language has brought out the nature of the linguistic *sign-system. 1977R. H. Brown in Douglas & Johnson Existential Sociol. ii. 90 These norms and rules form a sign system that is itself subject to the feedback of experience.
1897Kipling Capt. Cour. 133 How was it my French didn't go, and your *sign-talk did?
1890W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xxii. 357 In the human child..these ruptures of contiguous association are very soon made; far off cases of *sign-using arise when we make a sign now; and soon language is launched. 1938C. W. Morris Found. of Theory of Signs i. 1 Men are the dominant sign-using animals. 1957C. E. Osgood et al. Measurement of Meaning i. 3 The behavior of the sign-using organism.
1894N. & Q. 8th Ser. V. 6/1 It is a *sign-word only, not a term of affinity.
1871J. Callingham Sign Writing i. 1 It is curious that the term ‘*sign-writer’ is not to be found in any encyclopædia or dictionary, ancient or modern... Even Kelly's ponderous ‘Post Office London Directory’ does not deem the sign-writer worthy of separate enumeration in its list of trades. 1977J. McClure Sunday Hangman xiii. 151 A family of losers trying to find the right words for the signwriter.
1871J. Callingham (title) *Sign writing. 1954‘J. Wyndham’ Jizzle 49 Elmer was a house-painter who doubled in the less spacious art of sign-writing. 1978Dumfries & Galloway Standard 21 Oct. 21/2 (Advt.), All types of signwriting undertaken.
b. Special combs., as sign-behaviour, behaviour that is dependent on a sign (sense 7); sign bit Computers, a sign digit located in a sequence of binary digits; sign-design (see quot. 1942); sign digit Computers, a digit, located in a sequence of digits, whose value depends on the algebraic sign of the number represented; sign-event, a particular occurrence of the use of a sign (sense 7); sign-process, the process whereby a token or indication becomes operative or functions as a sign; sign stimulus Biol., the component or characteristic of an external stimulus which is effective in initiating a particular innate behavioural response in an animal perceiving it, regardless of the presence or absence of the remainder of the stimulus; sign-vehicle, the token or indication that acts as a sign.
1946C. W. Morris Signs, Lang. & Behav. i. 7 And goal-seeking behavior in which signs exercise control may be called sign-behavior. 1964Gould & Kolb Dict. Soc. Sci. 641/2 Sigh-behaviour is found in all levels of animal life.
1962Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Proc. (B.S.I.) 19 Where the sign digit is a binary digit it is often known as a sign bit. 1975T. Bartee Introd. Computer Sci. ii. 47 The sign bit is set apart from the magnitude bits by a . in each word... An alternate technique uses a box for the sign bit.
1942R. Carnap Introd. Semantics §3.5 The word ‘sign’ is ambiguous. It means sometimes a single object or event, sometimes a kind to which many objects belong. Whenever necessary, we shall use ‘sign-event’ in the first case, ‘sign-design’ in the second. 1944Mind LIII. 36 The sign-design is what is usually meant when we use such words as ‘symbol’, ‘word’, ‘sentence’. It is the form or structure common to a set of actual occurrences (sounds, marks, gestures) whereby they function symbolically. 1974M. Taylor tr. Metz's Film Lang. iii. 90 Between words—pure ‘sign events’ as they are called in American semiotics, events that never occur twice..and language..there is room for the study of ‘sign designs’, sentence patterns.
1947A. W. Burks et al. in J. von Neumann Coll. Wks. (1963) V. 46 Our numbers are 40 digit aggregates, the left-most digit being the sign digit. 1950Proc. R. Soc. A. CCII. 574 The first digit is regarded as a sign digit and a ‘binary point’ supposed to exist before the second digit. 1969J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching viii. 194 The sign digit is normally ‘o’ for positive numbers.
1942Sign-event [see sign-design above]. 1973Screen Spring/Summer 164 Spoken words..are pure ‘sign-events’ incapable of being reproduced twice over and therefore impossible to study scientifically.
1946C. W. Morris Signs, Lang. & Behav. i. 3 Terms which are commonly used in describing sign-processes. 1957C. E. Osgood et al. Measurement of Meaning i. 5 A first step toward a behavioral interpretation of the sign-process.
1934E. S. Russell Behaviour of Animals ii. 33 The principle of representative stimuli, or sign stimuli as we may call them for short, is illustrated not only in the flight reactions of animals..but even more clearly in..food-finding behaviour. 1967A. Manning Introd. Animal Behaviour iii. 39 There are many examples of auditory and chemical sign-stimuli too. Turkey hens which are breeding for the first time will accept as chicks any object which makes the typical cheeping call. On the other hand..deaf turkey hens kill most of their chicks because they never receive the auditory sign-stimulus for parental behaviour. 1975,1980Sign stimulus [see releaser c].
1938C. W. Morris Found. of Theory of Signs i. 4 In such cases S is the sign vehicle.., D the designatum, and I the interpretant of the interpreter. 1955T. H. Pear Eng. Soc. Differences i. 33 Status symbols are sign-vehicles, cues which determine the status to be imputed to a person.
Add:[I.] [1.] d. spec. Any of the gestures used as a means of communication with or between the deaf and dumb in a system of sign language.
1644Bulwer Chirol. 5 Men that are borne deafe and dumbe; who can argue..rhetorically by signes, and with a kinde of mute and logistique eloquence overcome their amaz'd opponents. a1706Evelyn Diary an. 1677 (1955) IV. 113 There din'd this day at my Lords, one Sir Jo: Gaudy a very handsome person, but quite dumb: yet very intelligent by signes. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Mankind ii. 17 The mother-tongue of the deaf and dumb, is the language of signs. 1880Daily News 11 Nov. 6/2 The oralists say that under the French system signs only are taught. 1965W. C. Stokoe et al. Dict. Amer. Sign Lang. 293 Some ‘signs’ for numbers in ASL are simply configurations shown as letters are. 1990New Scientist 27 Oct. 32/1 Just as words consist of a range of vowels and consonants, combined in specific ways within each language, signs consist of arrangements of handshape, as well as the hands' location, orientation and movement.
▪ II. sign, v.1|saɪn|
Also 4–7 signe, 5–6 sygne, 6 syne, 7 sine, Sc. singe.
[ad. F. signer († siner) or L. signāre, f. signum sign n.]
I.
1. a. trans. To mark, protect, consecrate, etc., with the sign of the cross.
c1305St. Edmund 66 in E.E.P. (1862) 72 In mie fore⁓heuede iwrite mie name þu schalt iseo; Signe þerwiþ þi foreheued & þi breost also. c1315Shoreham i. 15, Ich signi þe wiþ signe of croys. 1552Bk. Com. Prayer, Bapt. Inf., We receyue this childe into the congregacion of Christes flocke and doe sygne hym wyth the signe of the crosse. 1634Canne Necess. Separ. (1849) 248 They are to wear surplices, sign children in baptism with the sign of the cross. 1753Challoner Cath. Chr. Instr. 3 The Use of signing our⁓selves with the Sign of the Cross. 1834K. H. Digby Mores Cath. v. vii. 193 St. Gregory the Great says, that it was the custom to sign the penitential bread with a cross. 1878Gairdner Rich. III, vi. 269 He kissed the ground and signed himself with the cross.
b. To cross (esp. oneself).
c1400Love Bonavent. Mirr. xlvii. (1908) 252 Than sche wipeth his face and kisseth it,..and so signede and blessed hym. 1530Palsgr. 718/1, I shall syne me on the forheed from the dyvell and all his angels. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche xvii. cxxvii, How know I but thou art some fair⁓dress'd Feind To make me foul? and here himself he sign'd. 1855Browning Fra Lippo 155 Shaking a fist at him with one fierce arm, Signing himself with the other because of Christ. 1861Lytton & Fane Tannhäuser 100 Then, sign thyself, and peaceful go thy ways.
c. To make the sign of (the cross) by a movement of the hand.
1810Scott Lady of L. iii. iv, He pray'd, and sign'd the cross between. 1872A. de Vere Leg. St. Patrick, Baptism ii, With that small hand..He signed the Cross. 1896A. Austin England's Darling i. i, Nay, sign the cross upon your brow and sleep.
d. To figure (the cross) in some material.
1825Scott Betrothed x, Pointing to the cross signed in white cloth upon his left shoulder.
2. a. To place some distinguishing mark upon (a thing or person); to mark with a sign.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. viii. (Bodl. MS.), Grauers vse the peces þerof [i.e. adamant] to signe and to þirle precious stones. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 206 Heere thy Hunters stand Sign'd in thy Spoyle, and Crimson'd in thy Lethee. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 228 They..wore garments of black, signed with a white crosse. 1697Dryden æneid ix. 130 There sprung A Light that sign'd the Heav'ns, and shot along. 1726Pope Odyss. xix. 456 The scar, with which his manly knee was sign'd. 1843Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. vii. §20. 94 The reversed imagery of their darkness signed across by the soft lines of faintly touching winds.
fig.1582N. T. (Rhem.) John vi. 27 For him the Father, God, hath signed. ― Eph. iv. 30 The holy Spirit of God: in which you are signed vnto the day of redemption. a1652J. Smith Sel. Disc. vii. 329 Since the Israelites are signed with the holy seal in the flesh, they are thereby acknowledged for the sons of God. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 634 Earth, Air, and Seas, with Prodigies were sign'd. 1862F. T. Palgrave in Bk. of Praise (1866) 242 Saviour pure and holy, Sign us with thy sign.
b. To stamp as a sign upon something. rare.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vi. §16 The omnipotency of God, which is chiefly signed and engraven upon his works.
c. In pass. To have as signatures.
1706Hearne Collect. 4 Feb., The leaves signed, a i. a iij.
†3. To put a seal upon (something). Also intr., to use seals. Obs.
1382Wyclif Rev. xxii. 10 Signe, or seele, thou not the wordes of prophecie of this book. 1581Marbeck Bk. Notes 969 He..put him in the bottomles dungeon, & shut him vp, & signed him with his seale. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 178 The Easterne Countries or ægypt doe not yet signe, sayth he, being contented with bare letters.
4. a. To attest or confirm by adding one's signature; to affix one's name to (a document, etc.).
1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 11 Signe nor seale them not til thou haue ouerseen them. 1513–4Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 1 Preamble, Every writting obligatorie..signed and sealed in fourme above rehersed. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 397, I am not well, send the deed after me, And I will signe it. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 52 The Lord Deputies entertainement to be paid according to the List after following, which List was to be signed by the Lords. 1686tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 63 The Caimacan was ready to sign the Pass. 1713Swift Jrnl. to Stella 16 Mar., They have had some expresses, by which they count that the peace may be signed by that time. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 22/2 It is the custom of Shroffs to get the body of the bond wrote by their Gomastahs, and they sign it with their own hands. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 199 Where an account is regularly settled between the parties, and signed by them, it will carry interest. 1874T. Taylor Leic. Square iii. 64 His commission was not signed till April, owing to delays.
fig.1613R. Hill Pathw. Piety (1615) M 4 As the preaching of the Gospell is Gods powerfull instrument to sign our saluation. 1659Milton Rupt. Commw. Wks. 1851 V. 401, I perswade me, that God was pleas'd with this Restitution, signing it as he did, with such a signal Victory. 1878Ruskin Notes 50 Turner always signs a locality with some given incident.
b. To fix down, make over, give away, by signing.
1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 75 We would with our blood signe downe such spels on the Plaines [etc.]. 1712Hearne Collect. 21 June, This Tenement he signed over to his Sons. 1846Dickens Battle of Life 1, Signing away vague and enormous sums of money. 1858Trollope Dr. Thorne I. xiv. 284 A man signs away a moiety of his substance.
c. With in. To secure the admittance of (a person) to a hotel, club, etc., by signing a register; to record the entrance of (a person) into a building, etc.
1930A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies xxv. 368 Isn't he sleeping in the hotel himself?.. Didn't want to sign you in as his wife, I shouldn't wonder. 1957C. MacInnes City of Spades i. xi. 79, I shall sign you in till Johnny come, and check with him later. 1971R. Hill Advancement of Learning xvi. 222 ‘Have you been signed in?’.. Of course, it was a club. ‘Then you can't buy a drink, can you?’ 1977J. P. Anderson in Douglas & Johnson Existential Sociol. vi. 191 His face fell a foot when the social worker told him that Viejas Rehabilitation Center was the only place he could get in, that he would have to sign himself in for from three to six months. 1978M. Z. Lewin Silent Salesman xviii. 107, I know of at least one person who was in Research [Laboratory] Three on the twenty-seventh who isn't signed in or out.
d. With out. To secure the release of (a person or thing) by signing; to record the removal of (a thing) or the departure of (a person) from a building, etc.
1963V. Nabokov Gift iii. 187 He signed out the complete works of Chernyshevski from the state library. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 11/6 The nurse replied that he had been signed out by the doctor. 1972D. E. Westlake Cops & Robbers (1973) x. 137 Why don't you shlep on back to the [police] station and sign us both out? 1978[see sense 4 c above].
5. a. intr. To affix one's signature; also const. to. Also, to make a written contract with, and const. for, as authorization or acknowledgement of receipt. to sign on the dotted line: see dotted ppl. a. 1 c.
1617Moryson Itin. ii. 150 Another letter..signed below, not above (as she usually signed). 1655tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion xii. 27 It was therefore better..to cause him..to sign to whatsoever he had confessed. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 32 The articles we signed to at Plymouth, were never read in our hearing. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 377 Though the witnesses must all see the testator sign,..yet they may do it at different times. 1818Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 27 Having signed and sealed for the future ‘Italy’, he will not let me allude to it now. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law xviii. 137 They must both sign in your presence. 1879O. W. Holmes Archbishop & Gil Blas 24 That is why my hand looks shaky when I sign for dividends. 1938L. Bemelmans Life Class ii. iv. 160, I won't pay for anything that isn't properly ordered... I pay only for things I sign for. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xxii. 181 The only royalties I get are on my records made after I signed with Decca. 1957C. Smith Case of Torches i. 10 ‘Some of the boys in the laboratory..think they compromise their independence if they sign for something.’ ‘All the other boxes have been signed for.’ 1966J. B. Priestley Salt is Leaving v. 61 If a Miss Tiller asks for me, tell her we've gone in. I've already signed for her. 1967E. S. Gardner Case of Queenly Contestant xvi. 206 He said he would take care of all my expenses... I..sign for meals in the hotel restaurant. 1974Times 5 Feb. 11/7 John Alderton and Pauline Collins..have signed with London Weekend Television to appear as husband and wife in a new comedy series. 1977P. D. James Death of Expert Witness ii. 100 We let them borrow the key and they sign for it in a book in the office.
fig.a1704T. Brown Lett. to Gent. & Ladies Wks. 1709 III. ii. 91 Thou hast the daintiest smacking Lips in the Universe, that would invite a Hermit to sign and seal upon them.
b. (a) With off. gen., to record that one is bringing something to an end, to stop doing something; spec. (i) Broadcasting, to cease broadcasting, to announce the end of a broadcast; (ii) to fall silent, to withdraw one's attention; (iii) to record leaving one's work, to stop work; (iv) Bridge, to indicate by a conventional bid that one is ending the bidding.
1838Emerson Addr. Cambr. Wks. (Bohn) II. 200 In the country neighbourhoods, half parishes are signing off, to use the local term. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), To sign off, to release a debtor by agreeing to accept whatever he offers to pay. 1878Mrs. Stowe Poganuc P. iii. 18 The revolution..which broke up the State Church and gave to every man the liberty of ‘signing off’, as it was called, to any denomination that pleased him. 1923Sci. Amer. Nov. 310/3 The local broadcasting stations have ‘signed off’ for the night. 1929Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking vi. 206 If you're trying to propose to me, sign off. There is nothing doing. 1933A. McCabe Contract without Tears 165 Had North wished to sign-off at this point he would have bid five diamonds. 1937Speculum Apr. 268 Tired copyists expressed their relief at signing off from their labors. 1948Times 2 Sept. 2/7 Reluctance to sign off with no additional values has led to many [Contract Bridge] players getting out of their depth. 1953W. R. Burnett Vanity Row xxi. 188 Lynch was..listening to a comedy programme... ‘Be with you in a minute... They're just about to sign off.’ 1954M. Procter Hell is City i. v. 30 What time did you sign off?.. Since then you've been in some pub... You've been working on that murder, I suppose. 1957F. Hoyle Black Cloud xi. 210 If the politicians started..arguing..the Cloud would sign off altogether. It's not going to waste its time talking to gibbering idiots. 1962Listener 1 Mar. 394/3 He bid 5 N.T., which by convention asked his partner to bid Six Diamonds if he held the King of the agreed suit, hearts, and otherwise to sign off in Six Hearts. 1965‘J. le Carré’ Looking-Glass War xxiii. 241 ‘The transmission's stopped.’ .. ‘Did he sign off?’ 1971H. Trevelyan Worlds Apart xvii. 193 By the summer of 1964 Khrushchev had decided to have nothing to do with Vietnam either and virtually signed off. 1974R. M. Pirsig Zen & Art of Motorcycle Maintenance i. 23 John signs off every time the subject of cycle repair comes up. 1976Times 1 May 12/7 North can hardly be blamed for seeking a slam when his partner could have ‘signed off’ by responding Five Diamonds to Five Clubs. 1976Milton Keynes Express 30 July 13/1 In a statement Hawkins said he did not sign off because the Works job was only temporary and he was afraid he would not be able to sign on again. 1979Irish Times 28 Sept. 3/1 A decision will be made later as to whether this progressive three-year-old will sign off for the season in the St Simon Stakes or the Champion Stakes.
(b) With on. spec. (i) to record one's arrival at work, to begin work; (ii) to sign a contract to join an organization, etc.; (iii) to register at the Department of Employment (formerly Labour or Employment Exchange) in order to obtain unemployment benefit. (Cf. 6 c.)
1862Railway Traveller's Handy Bk. 8 In most Government offices the employés are compelled to ‘sign on’, as it is called, when they arrive in the morning. 1885St. James's Gaz. 23 Sept. (Cassell), One set of men signed on after having only seven hours' absence from work. 1930E. Pound XXX Cantos ix. 37 Until he signed on with Siena. 1936N. Mitchison Fourth Pig 29 If I didn't keep it up, there'd be a dozen knocking themselves over to get my job. And then it would be signing on again at the Labour. 1941Illustrated 6 Sept. 21 She hands him the emergency slip. It says that he must sign on at 8 a.m. for the 9.30 special. 1955Times 18 Aug. 5/1 Some of our men there had signed on for three or five years because they had been told they would learn a trade, but they were just batmen and doing no training at all. 1960C. MacInnes Mr. Love & Justice 45 Frankie had paid his last visit to the Labour because..he wasn't going through the comedy of ‘signing on’ any more. 1974P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry ii. 31 Bus drivers and conductors have instead to sign on... They may have to make a personal appearance before the traffic inspector to show that they are not drunk or otherwise unfit. 1976Yorkshire Evening Press 9 Dec. 3/4 If you gave up work voluntarily then you could be disqualified from receipt of unemployment benefit for up to six weeks, and you would have to ‘sign on’ and hold yourself available for employment every week. 1981B. Hines Looks & Smiles 18 You take this [card] up to the Social Security office and sign on at the time it says here. Ibid. 44 Miserable bunch of bastards, the sergeant said... Anybody'd think they'd been forced to sign on.
c. With up. To enrol, to enlist; to give support to.
1903A. H. Lewis Boss 186 You can tell by th'way they go to bat, whether th' Blackberry has signed up to them to kill our franchise. 1926Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 25 So she signed up for evening classes. 1942E. Paul Narrow St. xxxiv. 306 It was generally accepted in our street after that that France was eager to sign up with Russia against Hitler. 1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 69 What I thought of doing was to sign up with you... It's a great help to start in a decent regiment. 1951Listener 31 Jan. 172/2 Inducing other governments to sign up to professions of high moral and legal principles. 1975M. Bradbury History Man vi. 99 I've signed up for an evening class. 1977T. Heald Just Desserts i. 11 Collingdale had had to sign up as a novice friar.
d. With out, in. To record one's departure from, arrival at, a hotel, club, etc., by signing a register; also fig.
1951G. Greene End of Affair ii. ii. 65 It was..as though I had signed out of the war. 1966G. Burnett Dead Account xii. 97 And my name's Brook. Where do we sign in? 1968‘G. Bagby’ Another Day—Another Death vii. 142 It seemed impossible that..all the police who'd been poring over the book could have missed someone who signed in and hadn't signed out. 1978M. Z. Lewin Silent Salesman xviii. 108 I'd like a list of all the people who signed in or out of Research Three.
6. a. trans. To write or inscribe (one's name) as a signature.
1817Scott Lett. I. 407, I am about to sign my name three hundred times. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law xviii. 137 Then you should sign your name in their presence. 1888Besant Fifty Yrs. Ago 78 Forty per cent. of the men..could not sign their own names.
b. refl. To denominate or designate (oneself) in a signature or signatures.
1885Manch. Exam. 28 Sept. 5/2 A correspondent of last week's Spectator, who signs himself a ‘Liberal Solicitor’.
c. To engage by the signing of an agreement. Also with on, up; also fig.
1889in Cent. Dict., The Athletics have signed a new player. 1894Times 25 Sept. 10/6 When crews are not signed on board, a large proportion of them are missing when the boat is ready to sail. 1894Westm. Gaz. 27 Sept. 1/3 The men can only be ‘signed on’ in the presence of the Board of Trade officer. 1927Wodehouse Meet Mr Mulliner i. 29 If George had been a member of the Olympic Games Selection Committee, he would have signed this woman up immediately. 1932Radio Times 1 Apr. 5/2 Seversky immediately signed the violinist up for his broadcast. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) iii. 35 Joe Glaser, the big agent and manager..signed me up on the spot. 1963Wodehouse Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves iii. 26 While I personally..would run a mile in tight shoes to avoid marrying Stiffy, I knew him to be strongly in favour of signing her up. 1980G. M. Fraser Mr American xxiii. 442 Your friend Pip is to be one of the top turns in the cabaret—I suppose they signed her up as soon as they saw the early editions.
II.
7. a. trans. To indicate, signify, betoken.
a1375Joseph of Aramathie 185 Þat signede Ihesu crist..was nout out-wiþ so cler bote wiþ-inne he was clene. a1585Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 633 His asse eares..signe in short space, The franticke foole sall grow madde like Mahowne. 1628Gaule Pract. The. 36 That he hath lost it, doth but signe he had it not. 1652― Magastrom. 184 A broad forehead signes or marks a man stupid. 1845Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 135 This branch, Which waveth high o'er all, oh, let it sign Thine own Eternal Son's humanity. 1884R. H. Newton Bk. Beginnings 127 The Asherah, the original of the Maypole, signs the productivity of nature.
†b. intr. To prognosticate, bode. Obs.
1601Weever Mirr. Mart. C viij, To prophesie from Comets, or deuine, Tis foolerie; they neither cause nor signe. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. iii. 15 Musicke i' th' Ayre... It signes well, do's it not?
†8. trans. To designate. Obs.—1
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 23 An Angle is most commonly signed by three Letters, the middlemost whereof sheweth the Angular Point.
9. a. intr. To make a sign or signs by some movement of the hand, etc.; spec. to use a sign language.
1700Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 494 Then signing to their heralds with his hand, They gave his orders from their lofty stand. 1819Scott Ivanhoe viii, Prince John with his truncheon signed to the trumpets to sound the onset. 1869Tennyson Coming of Arthur 317 She..sign'd To those two sons to pass, and let them be. 1909Webster., Sign, To communicate or converse in a sign language. 1977Rolling Stone 16 June 46/1 Washoe used to sign to the others quite a bit, but of course the chimps she was signing to didn't respond. 1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. 10/4 Strangely, many educators of deaf students don't sign (use sign language). 1980Nat. Geographic June 849 Bin was picking up sign language... He didn't talk to Princess; he signed to her as he also did with other non-signing orangutans.
b. trans. To intimate, convey, by a sign; spec. to communicate or express (something) in a sign language.
1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 208 Upon this he sign'd to me, that he should bury them with Sand. 1820Scott Monast. xix, He..held up his finger to him as he signed farewell. 1821― Kenilw. xii, He, too, signed a mournful greeting to Tressilian. 1896Harper's Mag. Apr. 724 [He] signed me next morning that we should camp here. 1909Webster, Sign, To signify by, or express in a sign language. 1975J. Goulet Oh's Profit i. 4 Liedlich and his wife, Nancy, had signed the month, the hand-dance that was the month April. 1975Church Times 15 Aug. 2/2 The lessons will be signed by deaf readers and the Lord's Prayer by one who is also blind. 1978Oxford Times 16 June 2 The British Deaf Association Choir..‘signed’ the hymns.
III. 10. Comb., as sign-in, the action of signing in (see senses 4 c and 5 d); also used attrib. and absol. of a register in which people sign in; sign-off, the action of signing off (see sense 5 b (a)); Broadcasting, the end of transmission, an announcement of this; also attrib.; sign-on, the action of signing on (see senses 5 b (b) and 6 c); Broadcasting, the start of transmission; sign-out, the action of signing out (see senses 4 d and 5 d); the signature of one who has signed out; sign-up, the action of signing up or the state of having signed up (see senses 5 c and 6 c); also, a person who has signed up; also attrib.
1968‘G. Bagby’ Another Day—Another Death vii. 142 He showed me the porter's sign-in. The man had come in quite early. 1972‘J. Lange’ Binary 8 A guard with a sign-in book stood in front of the elevator. Graves..took the pen and wrote his name, his authorization, and the time. 1978S. Brill Teamsters iii. 115 Their names were the first entered every morning in the sign-in register at the Fund's reception desk.
1942E. Culbertson Official Bk. Contract Bridge xv. 187 Finally, there is the sign-off bid... The sign-off may be made even if the responder hold one Ace. 1949Cavalier Daily (Univ. Virginia) 23 Sept. 1/3 A non-affiliated station..will be on the air only during the daylight hours. Sign-on and sign-off times will vary from month to month. 1958Listener 30 Oct. 709/2 The sign-off for his partner would clearly be Five Hearts. 1960News Chron. 27 June 3/1 One [question]..was used by the producer as a rather abrupt sign-off. 1961[see sign-on below]. 1962H. T. Moore Coll. Lett. D. H. Lawrence I. p. xxi, Lawrence's sign-off line was often a foreign phrase. 1971H. Trevelyan Worlds Apart xvii. 194 So now they could no longer stay silent and issued the expected ‘sign-off’ statement on Vietnam, evidence that they were powerless to take any diplomatic initiative. 1976Time 20 Dec. 47/2 Remember his sign-off as he was being expelled from a Democratic Convention: ‘This is John Chancellor, somewhere in custody.’
1948Seafarers' Log 9 Jan. 5/2 One thing about the pay-offs and sign-ons we had: All the beefs were settled aboard ship to everybody's satisfaction. 1949[see sign-off above]. 1961Time 19 May 53/1 The toughest TV critic..dared the station and network operators and owners to sit down in front of their sets from sign-on to sign-off. 1968‘G. Bagby’ Another Day—Another Death vii. 142, I looked at the later sign-outs. Those covered the mob of cleaning women.
1940Sun (Baltimore) 17 Sept. 9/7 Talbot, with a ‘sign up’ of 391,..led all the counties. 1941Ibid. 14 Feb. 7/1 ‘There is a direct need for immediate sign-up’ of nurses for army duty. 1945National Legionnaire (U.S.) Sept. 1 (heading) Legion speeds sign-up of 12,000,000 War II victors. 1951Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 5 Mar. 3/2 Sign-ups through the end of last month totaled 1,033. 1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 118 A sign-up sheet was then distributed and students were asked to indicate whether..they would be willing to volunteer for the experiment. 1974News & Reporter (Chester, S. Carolina) 22 Apr. 10-A/1 This will be a singles tournament and sign up will start Saturday morning at 10 a.m. 1980Dirt Bike Oct. 5/1 The little gray-haired lady at the sign⁓up booth is your wife, or your girlfriend.
▸ U.S. colloq.to sign off on: to assent or give one's approval to, by or as if by signing an agreement.
1930N.Y. Times 29 Nov. 15/3 Princeton has signed off on graduate coaching for baseball. 1973New Yorker 19 May 90/2 The military bureaucracy, most notably the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would have to ‘sign off’ on (Washington jargon for ‘approve’) the American proposal. 1981P. Salinger Amer. held Hostage xxii. 298 The boiler-plate language attached to the transaction stipulates that the deposition, in agreeing to the transfer, ‘signs off’ on any future claims against the bank. 1993Premiere Mar. 54/2 ‘It was hard to get celebrities to sign off on those issues,’ he now says, with considerable understatement. 2001High Country News 12 Feb. 6/1 The federal government signed off on the construction of a 14-mile highway along Utah's Wasatch Front in early January.
▪ III. † sign, v.2 Obs.
Forms: 4–6 signe, 5 segne, 5–6 sygne; 4 syngne, 5–6 syne.
[Aphetic f. assign v.]
trans. To assign, appoint.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 163 Tent & pauillon tille Isaac did he signe. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 35 Þat alle the bretheren..shullen ben redy at that day..in wat stede that he syngnyt hem. c1430Lydg. Paternoster 284 in Min. Poems (E.E.T.S.), Cause his lord was ageyn hym ffell He was fetryd and signed to prysoun. 1467–8Rolls of Parlt. V. 621/1 Many arraunt Theves..become Provers, and desire a Coroner to be signed unto theym to make their appelles of dyvers Felonyes. c1510Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) E iij, Like as a wise warriour signeth a souldiour For enemies aproching to watche and to espie. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxxix. 473 So euery man londyd excepte suche as were sygned to kepe the shyppes. 1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 19 The Emperor heaunlye..too thee the auctoritye signed Too swage seas surging.
▪ IV. sign
obs. form of sine n. and sing v. |