Signare

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A Latin term meaning to mark or to designate something for a particular purpose
2. used in historical contexts to refer to the act of signing or authenticating documents
3. often signifies the process of indicating approval or ownership through a symbolic gesture

Etymology: Latin "signare" meant to mark something with a sign, and the act could cut either way. A seal pressed into wax could authenticate a document, and the same root could also undo one. Latin "resignare," built from "re-" and "signare," meant "to unseal" or "to cancel," which is why English "resign" once meant to annul or give back a document before it came to mean giving up an office. "Signare" comes from "signum," meaning sign, mark, or standard. Christian Latin used the verb for making the sign of the cross over someone in blessing, so a mark of ownership and a sacred gesture were close neighbours. The same root shows up in English "assign," "consign," and "design," all of which began as ways of marking something out for a particular purpose.