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signator

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word signator

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
86–34 BC, Sallust
Ultimate origin
Latin signum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin signo
French signer
Latin signator
From the same root
Latin consigno ← signo
Latin designo ← signo
Latin resigno ← signo
Latin subsigno ← signo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sɪŋˈnaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [siɲˈɲaː.tor][1]

Forms

signātor m (genitive signātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin signō (“to mark, seal”) + -tor.[2][3] De Vaan lists the verb, from Plautus on, among the derivatives of signum (“sign, mark”),[4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *sekno- (“statue, sign”) and Proto-Indo-European *sek(h₂)-no- (“cut”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Sallust,[5][2] who in the Catiline speaks of supplying false witnesses and sealers of documents (testīs signātōrēsque falsōs commodāre).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note that it is not in Cicero and is mostly post-Augustan.[3] It was the witness who sealed a will, as in Suetonius, Valerius Maximus and the Digest, and Juvenal calls a forger a signātor falsō.[3][6] Juvenal also uses it of the witnesses to a marriage contract.[2][3] An inscription has it, perhaps, for an official who stamped bars of metal in the mint;[2] Lewis & Short and Georges take it as a coiner.[3][6] Augustine uses it of one who marks something out.[6]

In medieval Latin it could mean a chancellor,[7] and in Britain an official in charge of sealing documents in the chancery and, in astrology, a planet that signifies something.[8]

Timeline

  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of those who seal documents as witnesses.[2][5]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of forgers of wills and of witnesses to a marriage.[3][2][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of witnesses to wills.[3][5]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of one who marks out.[6][5]
  • 1521 – In England it names a sealer in the chancery.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A witness who seals a document, especially a will; also a witness to a marriage contract.[2][3][6]
  2. (perhaps) An official who stamped bars of assayed metal in the mint; a coiner.[2][3][6]
  3. (Late Latin) One who marks or designates.[6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A chancellor; an official who seals documents in a chancery.[7][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin, astrology) A planet that signifies something.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Signator.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/signator. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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