subsigno Latin · revision 36344

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la signum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sʊpˈsɪŋ.noː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [subˈsiɲ.ɲo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''subsignō''' (present infinitive subsignāre, perfect active subsignāvī, supine subsignātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ An inscription has the spelling ⟨sups-⟩.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sub-|signō|t1=under|t2=to mark]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives [[m|la|signō]] from [[m|la|signum|t=sign]], which he traces to [[itc-pro|*sekno-|t=statue, sign]], a derivative of the root of [[m|la|secō|t=to cut]], so first “what is cut out”.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[osc|segúnú|t=statues]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It appears in a law preserved in an inscription (''CIL'' 1.585) and in Cicero's speeches on the agrarian law and for Flaccus, of property registered with the treasury as security.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its literal sense is to write something beneath, as a signature or an addition: Pliny the Elder appends Cato's own words to his rules, and Festus notes that ''subsignāre'' is still said for ''subscrībere''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis and Short find it mostly after Augustus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In law it meant to register real estate as security for an obligation, usually one's own, and in general to guarantee a payment:^(OLD 2012) Valerius Maximus tells of a man who lost as a fine three ''iūgera'' he had pledged to the treasury for a friend, and the jurist Callistratus speaks of property pledged to the imperial treasury.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Figuratively, Pliny the Younger uses it of pledging his word for someone's character.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It continues in [[ro|subsemna]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of property registered as security.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of writing words beneath.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus glosses it with ''subscrībere''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To write beneath, [[m|en|undersign]], add as a [[m|en|signature]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(law)'' To [[m|en|register]] real estate as [[m|en|security]] for an obligation; to guarantee payment of.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To [[m|en|pledge]] (one's word), promise solemnly.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[subsignātiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[signum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}