signet

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

Arts, Literature, Language Courses, Education

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2024

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 6, 2024 is:

signet • \SIG-nut\ • noun

Signet refers to a seal used officially to give personal authority to a document in lieu of a signature, or to the impression made by or as if by such a seal.

// The ring had been passed down for generations, and bore an intricate intaglio signet.

See the entry >

Examples:

"The bottle is crowned with the letter K like a signet representing the majesty of the wearer." — MuseArabia.net, 20 Aug. 2023

Did you know?

Signets have been used for thousands of years. The design of a signet is personalized for its owner, and no two are alike. The ancients used signets to mark their possessions and to sign contracts. In later years signets were used to stamp a blob of hot wax sealing a folded secret document so that it couldn't be opened and read without the design being broken. Nowadays you’re likely to hear of signets in reference to jewelry, especially rings. The reigning pope wears one, called the Fisherman's Ring, which is carved with a figure of St. Peter encircled with the pope's name; after a pope's death, the ring is destroyed and a new one is made. If you guessed that signet and sign share an etymological relation, you’re entirely right: both can be traced to the Latin noun signum, meaning "a mark, token, image, sign, or seal."

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 6th.
0:11.3	Today's word is Signet, spelled S-I-G. Signet is a noun. It refers to a seal used officially to
0:19.5	give personal authority to a document in lieu of a signature or to the impression made by or as if
0:26.0	by such a seal. Here's the word used in a sentence from Muse Arabia.net. The bottle is crowned with the letter K like a
0:36.0	signet representing the majesty of the wearer. Signets have been used for
0:42.1	thousands of years. The design of a signet is
0:44.8	personalized for its owner and no two are alike. The ancients used signets to
0:51.0	mark their possessions and to sign contracts. In later years, Signets were used to
0:56.6	stamp a blob of hot wax sealing a folded secret document so that it couldn't be opened
1:02.2	and read without the design being broken.
1:05.0	Nowadays you're likely to hear of signets in reference to jewelry, especially rings.
1:11.0	The reigning Pope wears one, called the Fisherman's Ring, which is carved with a figure of St. Peter encircled with the Pope's name.
1:19.0	After a Pope's death, the ring is destroyed and a new one is made. If you guessed that
1:25.0	Sign and Sign share an etymological relation, you're entirely right. Both can
1:31.0	be traced to the Latin noun seignum, meaning a mark token image, sign, or seal.
1:38.0	With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
1:41.2	Visit and

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Merriam-Webster, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Merriam-Webster and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.