signatura

Forms

signātūra f (genitive signātūrae); first declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin signō (“to mark, seal”) + -ūra,^[1] from signum (“mark, sign”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD defines it as the matrix of a seal, a sense Conte cites from Capitolinus;^[1][2] in Palladius it names the marking of sheep.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Latin used it for any act of marking, for a mark made on an object to show its owner or to authenticate it, and for the authenticating mark on a letter or document, a signature.^[4] Du Cange glosses it as a subscription.^[5] In church use it was the official papal brief by which a petitioner's request was granted.^[4] Ramminger records a papal commission called the Signatura iustitiae,^[6] and in Ecclesiastical Latin the Signatura is the supreme tribunal of the Church.^[7]

The English word signature comes from it, partly through French; it first named a kind of document in Scottish law.^[8]

Timeline

• end of 4th / beginning of 5th century AD – Palladius uses it of the marking of sheep.^[2][3]
• 1417 – An English record speaks of goods under a signatura sive marqua, a mark.^[4]
• 1423 – A British text uses it for a papal brief granting a petition.^[4]
• 1485 – Canterbury accounts use it for the marking of sheep with pitch.^[4]
• 1530s – Borrowed into English as signature, a document in Scottish law.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The matrix of a seal.^[1][2]
2. The marking of animals or objects.^[2][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) A distinguishing mark on an object, showing ownership or authenticity.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) An authenticating mark on a document, a signature or subscription.^[4][5]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A papal brief granting a petitioner's request.^[4]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The supreme tribunal of the Church.^[7]

Related words

• signō
• signum
• signātor

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
5. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
6. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com