signet

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈsɪɡnɪt/ UK /ˈsɪɡnɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a small seal, often set in a ring, used to authenticate documents

He pressed his signet into the warm wax of the letter.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a small seal, often set in... seal stampsigilmark emblem

Word family

Related forms sign signature signatorysigil

Etymology

From Old French signet ('small seal'), diminutive of signe ('sign'), from Latin signum ('mark, sign').

signet Old French signum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# signet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈsɪɡnɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsɪɡnɪt/

## Meanings
1. a small seal, often set in a ring, used to authenticate documents

## Examples
- He pressed his signet into the warm wax of the letter.

## Synonyms
- seal
- stamp
- sigil
- mark
- emblem

## Related Forms
- sign
- signature
- signatory
- sigil

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: signet
- Root: signum

## Etymology
From Old French signet ('small seal'), diminutive of signe ('sign'), from Latin signum ('mark, sign').

## AI Etymology
Signet comes from Old French signet ('small seal'), diminutive of signe ('sign'), from Latin signum ('mark, sign'). The historical chain includes Old French signet and Latin signum. The quoted older senses, "small seal", "sign", and "mark, sign", supply the semantic anchors for signet. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word signet carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a small seal, often set in a ring, used to authenticate documents". Related English forms include sign, signature, signatory, and sigil. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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