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▪ I. signature, n.|ˈsɪgnətjʊə(r)|
[ad. med.L. signātūra, f. signāre to sign, mark, etc., or a. F. signature (16th c.).]
1. Sc. Law. A writing prepared and presented to the Baron of Exchequer by a writer to the signet, as the ground of a royal grant to the person in whose name it is presented. (Bell.) Cf. signator1.
1534Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VI. 219 To pas with writingis and signaturis to be subscrivit be the Kingis grace. 1574Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 383 Ane signature anent the confirmatioun of ane charter grantit to hir. c1630Sir T. Hope Minor Practicks (1726) 85 All Signatures of Prelacies, and great Benefices; and also all Signatures of the Officers of State, pass under the Great Seal only. 1690Scot. Acts Parl. (1822) IX. 200/1 The signatures and Charters of all vassalls of Kirklands. 1765–8Erskine Inst. Law Scot. ii. v. §82 Before the union of the two crowns in 1603, all signatures passed under the King's own hand. 1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v., Every Crown charter is preceded by a signature containing the principal clauses of the charter, and specifying the seal or seals through which it is to pass.
2. a. The name († or special mark) of a person written with his or her own hand as an authentication of some document or writing.
1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, La signature d'vn Notoire, the signature or marke of a Notarie. a1633Coke On Litt. (1642) II. 556 A bill superscribed with the signature or signe manuall, or royall hand of the King. 1771Junius Lett. liv. (1780) 294 He asserts that he has traced me through a variety of signatures. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxix, To make a last effort to procure that signature which would transfer her estates in Languedoc. 1829Southey All for Love ix. xv, The fatal signature appear'd To all the multitude, Distinct as when the accursed pen Had traced it with fresh blood. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair ix, I wish I had Miss MacWhirter's signature to a cheque for five thousand pounds. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 424 On so much of what has been said..they shall put the seals of all the judges with their signatures in writing.
b. The action of signing one's name, or of authenticating a document by doing so.
1621Ld. Kpr. Williams in Fortescue P. (Camden) 162 Some things wee must offer to the kings signature when the clarkes are not to bee found. 1803J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 5 The last act to be done by the president is the signature of the commission. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 63 He therefore did not mean the signature of the two first sheets as a signature of the whole will: there never was a signing of the whole.
†3. The action of impressing or stamping. Obs.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxi. §2 There is impressed upon all things..a third [desire] of Multiplying and extending their fourme upon other things: whereof the multiplying or signature of it upon other things, is that which we handled by the name of Active good.
4. a. A distinctive mark, a peculiarity in form or colouring, etc., on a plant or other natural object, formerly supposed to be an indication of its qualities, esp. for medicinal purposes. Now only Hist.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 505 Some also pretending themselues Natures Principall Secretaries, haue found out in these..not onely Temperatures.., but Signatures of Natures owne impression. 1638Mede Wks. (1672) p. v, He would take occasion to speak of the Beauty, Signatures, useful Vertues and Properties of the Plants then in view. 1697Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (1703) 127 Whether men, as they say of plants, have signatures to discover their nature by, is hard to determine. 1748tr. Werenfels' Diss. Superst. 21 There are some that think those Herbs the fittest for curing those Parts of a Man's Body, to which they bear some Sort of Resemblance, commonly called a Signature. 1806A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 240 It is probable that the golden colour of the fish..induced the ignorant to suppose, that it was given by Providence as a signature to point out its medicinal quality. 1858Carpenter Veg. Phys. §756 In former times such resemblances were greatly attended to by physicians, who termed them ‘signatures’. 1898Westm. Gaz. 3 June 5/1 According to this law, the best way of obtaining the ‘signatures’ of drugs is by healthy persons testing them on themselves.
b. A distinguishing mark of any kind.
a1626Andrewes Serm. (1856) I. 12 The Saviour..taking on Him ‘Abraham's seed’ must withal take on Him the signature of Abraham's seed, and be..circumcised. 1659Gentl. Calling 33 It is become..the badge and signature of a modern Wit, thus to be one of David's fools, in saying there is no God. 1750G. Hughes Barbados Pref. p. iv, There is not the smallest part of this Globe left without evident signatures of God's goodness. 1775J. Harris Philos. Arrangem. Wks. (1841) 298 It is a kind of universal signature, by which nature makes known to us the several species of her productions. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. ii. (1856) 89 The capacity of ennui is one of the signatures of man's immortality. 1940R. Morrish Police & Crime-Detection xii. 114 All these marks, however minute in themselves, form the specific ‘signature’ or identity of any fire-arm. 1952M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke xi. 185 You knifed three people..and..you went and left your signature all over the shop. 1960T. Hughes Lupercal 27 No Signature but this threshold-held hollow Remained of some vigorous souls That had Englished for Elizabeth. 1966Listener 17 Nov. 746/1 An obvious pointer..is the prevalence of Shostakovich's musical ‘signature’—D-S-C-H (D-E flat-C-B)—and its derivatives. 1971Daily Tel. 22 Jan. 13/2 Signature of his collection: the V-necked pullover on every outfit. 1979F. Kermode Genesis of Secrecy iii. 56 The episode..is a sort of reticent signature, like Alfred Hitchcock's appearances in his own films. 1979Studies in Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 109 Indeed, this prosodic ‘signature’ is written on page after page of the Pisan Cantos.
c. A stamp, impression. Also fig.
1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. Disc. iii. §9 So does meditation produce those impresses and signatures which are the proper effects of the mystery. 1697G. Burghope Disc. Relig. Assemb. 71 It wou'd..dissolve the..foot-steps and signatures of the Deity on our souls. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 76 Vulgar parents cannot stamp their race With signatures of such majestic grace. 1781Cowper Retirement 54 To trace, in nature's most minute design, The signature and stamp of pow'r divine. 1814Cary Dante, Par. vii. 105 Goodness celestial, whose broad signature Is on the universe. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps iii. §8. 71 See by how many artifices..time and storm will set their wild signatures upon it. 1871J. R. Macduff Mem. Patmos 142 The martyrs of the Roman catacombs, who have left the significant signature of their sufferings on vases and monumental tablets.
d. spec. = signature tune, sense 9 below.
1932[see signature tune, sense 9 below]. 1937Printers' Ink Monthly May 42/2 Signature, the musical number or sound effect which regularly identifies a program. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ix. 160 It is not so common for the start of a record to provide a good crisp opening signature.
e. Any pattern or characteristic in the physical properties or behaviour of a particular object, substance, etc., by which it can be identified; freq. a characteristic response which it gives to a test.
1960Jrnl. Histochem. & Cytochem. VIII. 288/1 Failure to demonstrate striking differences in ‘pH signature’ between analogous components of normal and carcinoma cells did not particularly surprise us. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 50/3 The new radar will gather ‘signatures’ of orbital vehicles as well as reentering missiles. 1969New Scientist 2 Oct. 21/2 The Concorde's signature from a given height will be less ponderous than that of the Boeing. 1971Sci. Amer. July 77/3 The characteristic signature of a supernova remnant is the emission of radio waves whose distribution of energy with wavelength is nonthermal. 1973D. Kyle Raft of Swords (1974) iii. 21 Super-sensitive acoustic receivers..which can instantly identify a vessel's ‘signature’; in other words, indentify the distinctive sounds made by a particular vessel. 1977A. Hallam Planet Earth 41/3 Its magnetic signature allowed an age to be assigned to each piece of ocean floor. 1980Globe & Mail (Toronto) 23 Aug. 2/5 The concept includes means of reducing the infra-red ‘signature’ given off by engine heat, thus defeating the ability of sensors to ‘see’ aircraft or vehicles even in darkness.
5. a. An image; a figure; an imitative mark. Now rare or Obs.
1658Sir T. Browne Garden of Cyrus iii, The Bryar..maintains its pentagonall figure, and the unobserved signature of a handsome porch within it. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. 237 Sir Thomas Brown..sent me the picture of one [a hen's egg]..having the perfect signature of a Duck swimming upon it. 1681Grew Musæum iii. i. i. 259 A Stone with the Signature of a Button-Fish upon it. 1782Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. viii. 108 They added the signature of the cross. 1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xlvi. IV. 286 Signatures,..markings upon a surface resembling in some degree letters and characters.
†b. A nævus, a birth-mark. Obs.
1682Glanvill Sadducismus i. 15 The fancy of the Mother can [form] the stubborn matter of the Fœtus in the womb, as we see it frequently doth in the instances that occur of Signatures and monstrous Singularities.
6. Printing.
a. A letter or figure, a set or combination of letters or figures, etc., placed by the printer at the foot of the first page (and frequently on one or more of the succeeding pages) of every sheet in a book, for the purpose of showing the order in which these are to be placed or bound. Abbrev. sig.
1656Blount Glossogr. s.v., Among Printers the mark or letter they set at the bottom of every sheet printed, as A, B, C, &c. to tell their Quires by, and distinguish one sheet from another, is called the Signature. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxii. ⁋4 If it be the First Page of the first Sheet of a Book the Signature is A. 1707Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 339 The Signatures (there being no pages) are towards the top of the Leaf. 1710Ibid. III. 47 The Signatures shew it to be 8vo. 1775Warton Hist. Eng. Poet. II. 15 note, It is in quarto, with signatures to K k. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. II. 135 It is customary to begin the first sheet of every work with signature B, leaving A for the title sheet. 1864N. & Q. 3rd Ser. VI. 266 Detached Sheet: 4to; signature, Dddddddd. 1895Trans. Bibliogr. Soc. II. ii. 112 It is usually said that the earliest instance in which printed signatures were employed was the Praeceptorium Divinae Legis of Johannes Nider, printed by Koelhoff at Cologne, in 1472.
attrib.1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 125 Signature line, the line of quadrats at the bottom of a page in which the signature letter or figure is placed. Ibid., Signature page, the first page of a sheet, on which the signature appears. 1896Moxon's Mech. Exerc., Printing p. xviii, The old signature marks that would confuse the bookbinder.
b. A sheet, as distinguished by its signature.
1712Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) IV. 37, I shall send you..the Signatures F, G, H, I, of Mr. Dodwell's Dissertation. 1785W. Tooke in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 430 As soon as such a number of books are perfected, the surplus of the various signatures are thrown aside for wrappers. 1901D. Cockerell Bookbinding i. 34 The sheets of a newly printed book are arranged in piles in the printer's warehouse, each pile being made up of the same sheet or ‘signature’. 1965Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Oct. 928/3 This word ‘signature’ is..often used when the user appears to mean either ‘leaf’ or ‘quire’. 1981Printing World 28 Jan. 13/3 Signatures can be perforated down the back for ‘slotted’ (also known as ‘notched’ or ‘burst’) binding.
7. Mus. A sign, or set of signs, placed at the beginning of a piece of music, immediately after the clef, to indicate its key or time.
1806J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. ii. iv. 126 All the Signatures beyond six may be expressed by a smaller number by changing the name of the Tonic. 1839Penny Cycl. XIII. 206/2 There are in name thirty different keys, and as many signatures are in actual use. 1875Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v., There are two kinds of signature, the time-signature and the key-signature.
8. Pharm. (See quot. 1951.)
1856E. Parrish Introd. Pract. Pharmacy v. ii. 418 The prescription may be divided, for the purpose of study, into the following parts..: 1. The superscription. 2. The inscription. 3. The subscription. 4. The signature. 1901T. Sollmann Textbk. Pharmacol. vi. 105 The directions to the patient (signature) are always written in English, so that the patient can read them. 1951A. Grollman Pharmacol. & Therapeutics 753 A prescription traditionally includes the following parts: 1. The superscription... 2. The inscription or body of the prescription... 3. The subscription... 4. The signature.., which includes the directions for the patient.
9. Special Comb.: signature tune, a piece of music that always precedes or follows a particular programme or a performance by a particular entertainer or band; also transf. and fig.
1932Daily Mail 4 Mar. 11/4 B.B.C. Band's ‘Signature’. ‘Just the Time for Dancing’ and ‘Till Next Time’ are the titles of the ‘signature’ tunes selected by Mr. Henry Hall for his new B.B.C. Dance Band, to be used every time the band begins or concludes a broadcast. 1934Punch 8 Aug. 164/2 My dearest memory of the place [sc. Bilgesea] is that there was never a moment at which wailing could not be heard. It is..the ‘signature-tune’..of English holiday-makers throughout the country. 1938O. Sitwell Those were Days iv. iii. 462 Diminutive moonstones and giant chrysanthemums were her signature-tune, her speciality almost, you might say, what she lived for. 1950E. Partridge Here, There & Everywhere 181 With Lewis Carroll the verse-form often serves the same purpose as a signature-tune. 1958P. Gammond Duke Ellington ii. 72 The Duke and Bubber wrote East St Louis toodle-oo..and this became..the band's signature tune. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ix. 161 Vocal music is not usually suitable for prefading, and is therefore rarely used for a closing signature tune. 1972T. Lilley ‘K’ Section xl. 192 The six o'clock news signature tune. The familiar introductory pictures. 1977N.Y. Rev. Bks. 26 May 3/3 ‘And trod so sweetly proud’ and ‘In this blind bitter land’ come from Yeats's well-recognized signature tune rather than from an imagination strenuously engaged with its experience.
Hence ˈsignatureless a., having no signature, unsigned; without signatures.
1830Lytton P. Clifford xxiii, Thus (abrupt and signatureless) ended the expected letter. 1892Athenæum 18 June 790/2 In the volume called ‘Love's Looking Glass’ the poems are ranged signatureless.
▪ II. signature, v.|ˈsɪgnətjʊə(r)|
[f. the n.]
†1. trans. To indicate symbolically; to mark out, designate. Obs.
1653R. Sanders Physiogn. b j, Plants which signature the Secrets, have a secret specifique vertue against sterility. 1740Cheyne Ess. Regimen p. xxx, Those who..have been signatur'd to intellectual Professions. Ibid. liv, Water being signatur'd, by its greatest Fluidity and Insipidity, for carrying alimentary particles..through all the strait meanders of animal Life.
2. Printing. To put a signature on (a sheet).
1889T. MacKellar Amer. Printer (ed. 17) 135.
3. To put one's signature to; to authenticate or confirm by one's signature.
1900Westm. Gaz. 2 June 2/3 Then followed the signatured address of a substantial householder of Courbevoie. 1909Eng. Rev. Mar. 636 The meaning..was that he should ‘signature’ the ugly thing. |