| 释义 |
▪ I. signet, n.|ˈsɪgnɪt|
Forms: 4– signet, 4–7 signett (6 -eth), 4, 6 signete, 5–6 -ette; 5 sygnet, -at, 5–6 sygnette, 6 -ete; 4 syngnette, 5 Sc. singnet.
[a. OF. signet (also sinet sinet), or ad. med.L. signētum, dim. of OF. signe, L. signum seal, sign n. Hence also MDu. and MLG. signet (Du. signet, dial. singenet).]
1. A small seal, usually one fixed in a finger-ring.
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 1087 With his salte teres gan he bathe The ruby in his signet, and hit sette Upon the wex. 1390Gower Conf. II. 320 Sche..lappede it togedre tho And sette hir signet therupon. 1450Rolls of Parlt. V. 212/2 Robbed hym of..his Signet, and other dyvers Juelx. 1463Bury Wills (Camden) 38 My signet of gold, with a pellican and my armys grave ther in. 1535Coverdale Jer. xxii. 24 Though Iechonias..were the signet off my right honde, yet will I plucke him of. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 449 All hys victoryes and vertues were not for to bee drawne in the Compasse of a Sygnette. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 177 They wrought onyx stones encloused in ouches of gold, graven as signets are graven. 1726Ayliffe Parergon 483 A Bishop's private Seal or Signet bearing his own Coat-Armour. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1851) I. 353/2 Taking his signet from his finger. 1825Scott Talism. ii, That diamond signet, which thou wearest on thy finger, thou holdest it, doubtless, as of inestimable value? 1889J. Dickie Words of Faith, etc. (1893) 254 Your name is graven on the signet on his hand.
2. A small seal of this kind in formal or official use, esp. as employed to give authentication or authority to a document.
c1400Mandeville viii. (1839) 82, I hadde Lettres of the Soudan, with his grete Seel; and comounly other Men han but his Signett. 1428E.E. Wills (1882) 83 Þerto I point my signet and my syne manuell. 1459Paston Lett. I. 455 Doutyng that summe of the forseyd sealys of armys or sygnettes remayne stille amonges myn officeres. 1535Coverdale 1 Kings xxi. 8 She wrote a letter vnder Achabs name, and sealed it with his signet. 1561Maitland Club Misc. III. 283 Gewyn vnder ye Superintendentis signet and subscripsion at Sanctandrois. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 46 Euery house of Quality, Magazen and Monastery were sealed vp, with the Signets of the Duke and Merchants. 1726Swift Gulliver i. i, His Excellency..producing his Credentials under the Signet Royal [etc.]. 1754Erskine Princ. Scot. Law (1809) 34 All our supreme courts have seals or signets, proper to their several jurisdictions. The Courts of Session and Justiciary used formerly the same signet, which was called the King's. 1821Byron Sardan. i. ii, Empower me with thy signet To quell the machinations. 1839Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. 61 In packages sealed with his own signet.
fig.1742Young Nt. Th. vii. 254 In man the more we dive, the more we see Heav'n's signet stamping an immortal make.
†b. In phr. clerk of one's signet. Obs.
1546Supplic. Poore Commons (E.E.T.S.) 78 The clerke of his signet no doubte it was, for he vsed to cary his masters ryng in his mouth. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 920/2 A clearke of his closet..and two clearks of his signet.
3. spec. The smaller seal originally used by the sovereigns of England and Scotland for private purposes and for certain documents of an official character; in later Scottish use serving as the seal of the Court of Session. Also called privy signet or King's (Queen's) signet. Hence Clerk of (or to), Keeper of, the signet, and Sc. writer to the signet (see writer).
(a)1417in Déprez Dipl. Angl. (1908) 100 Yeven under owr signet atte owr castel of Touque ye xii day of aoust. 1578in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 300 For the privie seale and the signet for the Revells money. 1607Cowell Interpr., Clerk of the Signet, is an officer attendant continually upon his maiesties Principal Secretary, who alwaies hath the custody of the priuie signet. a1633Coke On Litt. (1642) II. 556 The duty of the Clerk of the Signet is to write out such grants or letters patents as passe by bill signed..to the Privy Seal. 1663Gerbier Counsel f 3, One of the Clarkes of the Signet.
(b)1489Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 108 Item, to the clerkis of the singnet for the writin of letteris, be a precep, ij vnicornis, xxxvj s. 1561Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 186 And ordanis the signet to ansuer lettres upoun his deliverance. 1592Sc. Acts Parl. (1814) III. 569 The kepair of the signet sall write on the bak of þe signatur the speciall day that he affixit the signet. 1638Reg. Privy Counc. Scot. VII. 101 Wee..command..all keepers of the signet, from signeting thairof. 1695Sc. Acts Parl. (1822) IX. 462 All Writs passing under the Signet, called the Signet of the Lords of Session, be subscribed by a Writer as Clerk to the said Signet. 1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 667 The Keepers and other Officers of the Queens Signet. 1765–8Erskine Inst. Law Scot. i. iii. §39 When the signet is mentioned indefinitely, that of the session is commonly understood; which is also called the King's signet. 1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 168 The clerks or writers to the signet. Ibid., The society is now under the keeper of the signet. 1851Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 350 The Parliament..assumed the power of stopping the signet, in other words, of suspending the whole administration of justice.
†b. A document given under this signet. Obs.
1477in Antiquary (1891) 105/1 The foresaid Mayor resceyved a prive signet by the hande of a servante of the Kyngs, the tenour whereof herafter ensueth. 1490Coventry Leet Bk. 538 Ther was delyuered fro the Kynges grace a priue signet vnto Master R. Colman, Mair of þis Cite; the tenour wherof hereaftur ensueth.
4. An impressed seal or stamp; esp. the stamp or impression of a signet.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 837 Lesande þe boke with leuez sware, Þere seuen syngnettez wern sette in-seme. 1382Wyclif Rev. v. 2 Who is worthi for to opene the boke, and for to vnbynde the signetes of it? 1559Rec. Monast. Kinloss (1872) 150 To thir our Literis of Bailziaries..our signet is affixed. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 209 Heere is the hand and Seale of the Duke: you know the Charracter I doubt not, and the Signet is not strange to you? 1701Stanhope Medit. S. Aug. 249 Let me bear thee upon my heart as a signet. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Epist. ii. ii. 202 Although the Felon's Fork Defac'd the Signet of a Bottle-Cork. 1821Scott Kenilw. xli, See, here is his signet, in token of his instant and pressing commands. ‘It is false!’ said the Countess; ‘thou hast stolen the warrant.’
b. fig. A mark, sign, stamp.
1662Owen Animad. Fiat Lux xx. Wks. 1851 XIV. 162 The time will come when this Platonical Signet [the theory of purgatory]..shall be utterly exterminated out of the confines of the church of God. 1814Cary Dante, Parad xi. 100 [St. Francis] from Christ Took the last signet, which his limbs two years Did carry. 1852Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. xviii, I fancied that this smile..was the Devil's signet on the Professor.
†5. A signal. Obs. rare.
1590Pasquil's Apol. i. D iiij b, The signet shall be giuen, and the fielde fought. 1687M. Taubman London's Triumph 8 The Boatswain having given his signet by his Whistle.
6. attrib. and Comb., as signet-cylinder, signet letter, signet-office, signet seal, signet-wise.
1626in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 223 That your Committees have..sent a general Warrant to his Signet-Office. a1722Fountainhall Decis. (1759) I. 5 The Lords declined to meddle, pretending they would not annul the King's signet letters. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 158 Lewis Payne engraved two signet seals for Charles II. 1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 889 It is more than probable that, when the..forms of the old law came to be disused, Signet Letters, as they are termed, succeeded them. 1871P. Smith Anc. Hist. East x. §9 (1881) 205 The delicately striped and fringed dresses shewn on the most ancient signet-cylinders. 1877W. Jones Finger-ring 466 The bezel is an irregular octagon, in the centre there is cut, signet-wise, a device. 1908Scargill-Bird Guide Doc. P. Rec. O. 81 The Signet Letter differed from the Writ of Privy Seal by omitting from the face of the document both the name and titles of the King and of the person to whom it was addressed.
▪ II. signet
obs. variant of cygnet.
▪ III. ˈsignet, v. Sc.
Also 6 signat.
[f. the n.]
trans. To stamp with a signet. Also fig.
1496Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 321 Giffin to a boy, to ryn fra Edinburgh to Linlithquho to Watte Chepman to signet tua letteris to pas to woddis, xij d. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 90 This wreittand [= writing] beand subscryuit and signatit with the kingis signit was..delyuerit to Schir Patrick Gray. 1609Skene Reg. Maj., Forme of Proces 111 Stewards, or Baillies, sall haue ane signet..with the quhilk they sall signet all letters, and precepts execut be them. 1638Reg. Privy Counc. Scot. VII. 101 Wee..command..all keepers of the signet, from signeting thairof. 1685Sir G. Mackenzie Religious Stoic i. 6 With whose image it is signeted. 1752J. Louthian Form Process (ed. 2) 71 These Letters are signet with the Seal of Court. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. ii. iii. (1872) IV. 48 Friedrich..soon manufactured the necessary Pass⁓port, signeted in due form. 1868Act 31 & 32 Vict. c. 100 §13 Summonses passing the signet shall continue to be signeted as at present.
transf.1829Scott Anne of G. xxxv, The citation was..written, as was the form, upon parchment, signeted with three crosses, and stuck to the table with a knife.
Hence ˈsigneting vbl. n.
1687A. Haig in J. Russell Haigs (1881) xi. 332 It cost 1 lib. 10 sh. for signeting. 1875Sc. Acts XII. Index s.v. Signet, Ratification of an act of sederunt regarding the signeting of summonses. |