# signature
## English
### 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. Displaced native Old English handseten (literally “hand setting”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃə(ɹ)/, /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) enPR: sĭg′nəchər, sĭg′nĭchər, IPA: /ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃɚ/, /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃɚ/
* (General Australian) IPA: /ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

### Noun

signature (plural signatures)
* 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.
* An act of signing one's name; an act of producing a signature.
** 1977, Illinois Information Service, Press Summary - Illinois Information Service, page 4287: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.
** 2011, Winifred Holtby, The Crowded Street, Virago, →ISBN:[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 […]
** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:signature.
* (medicine) The part of a doctor’s prescription containing directions for the patient.
* (music) Signs on the stave indicating key and tempo, composed of the key signature and the time signature.
* (printing) A group of four (or a multiple of four) sheets printed such that, when folded, they become a section of a book.
* (computing) A pattern used for matching the identity of a virus, the parameter types of a method, etc.
* (cryptography) Data attached to a message that guarantees that the message originated from its claimed source.
* (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.
** 1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, Totem Books, Icon Books, →ISBN, The Renaissance Episteme, page 67:A “signature” was placed on all things by God to indicate their affinities — but it was hidden, hence the search for arcane knowledge. Knowing was guessing and interpreting, not observing or demonstrating.
* A dish that is characteristic of a particular chef.
** 2000, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Frommer's Rome 2001, page 97:A great beginning is the goose-liver terrine with truffles, one of the chef's signatures.
* (mathematics) A tuple specifying the sign of coefficients in any diagonal form of a quadratic form.
* (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.
* (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

#### Hyponyms

* biosignature

#### Derived terms

* blank signature
* cut signature
* digital signature
* electronic signature
* e-signature
* isotope signature
* isotopic signature
* key signature
* signature authority
* signature-compatible
* signature song
* signature strike
* signature tune
* specimen signature
* time-signature
* wet signature

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* autograph

### Adjective

signature (not generally comparable, comparative more signature, superlative most signature)
* Distinctive, characteristic, indicative of identity.
    Synonym: 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. TA-TA for now.

#### Translations
### References

* “signature”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Anagrams

* antisurge, gauntries, sautering

## French
### Etymology

From signer +‎ -ture; cf. Medieval Latin signatura.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /si.ɲa.tyʁ/
* Audio (France):(file)

### Noun

signature f (plural signatures)
* signature (a person's name written in their own handwriting)
    désavouer sa signature
* the act of signing
    Le décret est à la signature.(please add an English translation of this usage example)

#### Related terms

* signer
* signataire

### Further reading

* “signature”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Latin
### Participle

signātūre
* vocative masculine singular of signātūrus