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signet

American  
[sig-nit] / ˈsɪg nɪt /

noun

  1. a small seal, as on a finger ring.

  2. a small official seal for legal documents, contracts, etc.

  3. an impression made by or as if by a signet.


verb (used with object)

  • signets,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • signeted,
    past participle,  past
  • signeting
    present participle
  1. to stamp or mark with a signet.

signet British  
/ ˈsɪɡnɪt /

noun

  1. a small seal, esp one as part of a finger ring

  2. a seal used to stamp or authenticate documents

  3. the impression made by such a seal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to stamp or authenticate with a signet

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future


Etymology

Origin of signet

1300–50; Middle English < Old French ( see sign, -et); compare Medieval Latin signētum


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:

Mejuri’s globe-spanning operation must execute with precision before its customers can slip on the jeweler’s tennis bracelets and signet rings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Then there are the matching signet rings Robbie gifted to Elordi.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026

Are you wearing a martini glass signet ring?

From Salon ● May 1, 2025

The colorful intaglios — gems with incised carvings — likely fell out of signet rings worn by wealthy third-century bathers, and ended up trapped in the stone drains.

From New York Times ● May 1, 2023

The signet fits perfectly into the impression on the letter.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

Mr. Yang has a tattoo on his arm, drawn by a nonbinary Chinese tattoo artist, with ancient signets.

From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2020

The short exchange had many signets of Mr. Ryan’s nascent leadership style, which contrasts sharply with that of his predecessor, John A. Boehner.

From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2015

So far, they have found 1,500 objects: gold and silver jewelry, carved signets, artistic glassware and pottery.

From Time Magazine Archive

Everybody began attending to the paraphernalia of a challenge, the usual sealing of the gages with signets and so on, and the fixing of the date.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Elms set bossy signets on the land and throng the hedgerows, their round tops full of sunshine; under them the hawthorns sparkle very white against the riot of the green.

From A West Country Pilgrimage by Eden Phillpots

Packets are signeted, mutually sealed, Rucker claps on the Town-seal first, Freytag and Voltaire following with theirs.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 16 by Thomas Carlyle

"And now, Sir Alexander, what say you?" asked the Sieur de Retz, turning to the King's guardian, who had been caressing the curls of his beard with his white and signeted hand.

From The Black Douglas by Frank Richards

For raising and signeting the summonds of reduction in my Lord Abotshall's name, against the minister of Athelstanford, a dollar and a halfe.

From Publications of the Scottish History Society, Volume 36 Journals of Sir John Lauder Lord Fountainhall with His Observations on Public Affairs and Other Memoranda 1665-1676 by Lord John Lauder Fountainhall

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