Etymologically
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signator

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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