signet

Etymology

From Old French signet (“small seal”), from Medieval Latin signētum, diminutive of Latin signum (“sign”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɡ.nət/

Noun

signet (plural signets)

1. an object (especially a ring) formerly used to impress a picture into the sealing wax of a document as a proof of its origin
   • c.1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet

     I had my father's signet in my purse, / Which was the model of that Danish seal

   • 1844, Robert Browning, "The Labratory":

     To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,

     A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!

Anagrams

• ingest, stinge, tinges

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.ɲɛ/

Noun

signet m (plural signets)

1. bookmark (strip used to mark a place in a book)

Further reading

• “signet” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• gisent

Verb

signet

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of signō