Etymologically
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obsigno

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔpˈsɪŋ.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [obˈsiɲ.ɲo][1]

Forms

obsignō (present infinitive obsignāre, perfect active obsignāvī, supine obsignātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled opsignō.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from ob- and sīgnō (“to mark, seal”).[2][1] De Vaan derives ⟨sīgnum⟩, from which the verb comes, from Proto-Italic *sekno- (“statue, sign”), from the root of secō (“to cut”): “what is carved out” became “sign”; he compares Oscan segúnú (“statues”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it of a letter sealed with the image agreed between two people,[2] and of sealed letters handed over.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to affix a seal to something, to authenticate a document such as a will or a letter, to fasten it, or to secure things against removal, as Cicero's account books sealed by the accusers.[2][4] Wiktionary also gives the senses of sealing an accusation and of pledging under hand and seal.[1] Figuratively it is to stamp or imprint, as Lucretius' voice that stamps form and clear sound on words.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “seal, sign and seal”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a sealed letter.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the voice stamping words.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of account books placed under seal.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To seal, affix a seal to a document.[2][4][1][5]
  2. To seal up, secure under seal.[2]
  3. To pledge or mortgage under seal.[1]
  4. To stamp, imprint.[2][1]

Word family

  • obsignātiō
  • obsignātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de