signatory
Americanadjective
noun
-
signatories
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of signatory
1640–50, in earlier sense “used in affixing seals”; 1860–65 signatory for def. 2; < Latin signātōrius of, belonging to sealing, equivalent to signā ( re ) to mark, seal ( see sign) + -tōrius -tory 1
Explanation
A signatory is someone who signs a document and is subject to it. The co-signer for a loan is one type of signatory. A signatory is someone who signs a contract, therefore creating a legal obligation. There could be several signatories for a specific contract. Over time, this word has often been used for a person or country who signs a peace treaty. If the treaty is broken, the signatory will be blamed. You could be a signatory for a marriage, mortgage, adoption, lawsuit, or employment contract.
Vocabulary lists containing signatory
The Bean Trees
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This Week In Words: June 6–12, 2020
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Nevermoor
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Breakthrough amended the fund’s longstanding LLC agreement and gave itself unilateral signatory rights, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The institute is a signatory of the AI Evaluator Forum letter.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
And the terms are being rewritten in real time by the sole signatory.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
The U.S., under Bill Clinton, was a signatory to the treaty, but it was never ratified, and in 2002 it was officially withdrawn by George W. Bush.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
On the morning of March 7, thirty thousand German troops had rolled into the demilitarized Rhineland, in open defiance of both the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact to which Germany was a signatory.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
The signatories are pushing for European governments to spend more on medicines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
With over 100 signatories, the letter called for diversity in evaluations and operational safeguards to help evaluators maintain independence.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
More than 200 signatories to a nationwide open letter that included professors at Harvard and Stanford also called for a retraction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Now, the referendum petition lawsuit seeks class-action status for 162,000 of the 330,000 signatories.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Representatives of a large majority of the signatories of the Treaty of 1874 attended the Conference, and other questions were raised.
From The Development of Rates of Postage An Historical and Analytical Study by A. D. Smith
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
