Dictionary definition(s) for: signature

• n., The name or special mark of a person, affixed by the person’s hand or by its authorized agent on a document for the purpose of taking responsibility for, approving, or validating all or part of its content.
  [ Archives - Oxford English Dictionary ]
  Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
• n., A ‘sign’ placed at the opening of a comp. or of a section of a comp., indicating the key (key signature) or the value of the beat and the no. of beats in each measure (time signature).
  [ Arts - The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music ]
  The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
• n., A collection of symbols intended to be associated with sets and with functions on and elements from the sets.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - A Dictionary of Computing ]
  A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t11.e4810
• n., A few lines of information about the sender of an electronic mail message or news posting. Most Unix mail and news software will automagically append a signature from a file called .signature in the user's home directory to outgoing mail and news.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC) ]
  FOLDOC: Free Online Dictionary of Computing. http://foldoc.org/.
• n., A name or other distinctive mark made by an individual or made with his or her authority.
  [ General Dictionaries - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp
• n., Letters or numbers, or combinations of letters and numbers, printed at the foot of the first page, and sometimes on subsequent leaves of a gathering, as a guide to the binder in arranging them in their correct order.
  [ Arts - Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) ]
  J. Paul Getty Trust. Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT). Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2005. http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_reseach/vocabularies/aat/
• n., Persons' names written in their own hand.
  [ Arts - Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) ]
  J. Paul Getty Trust. Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT). Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2005. http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_reseach/vocabularies/aat/
• n., The characteristics of geophysical anomalies within a region or along a profile. It is often based on Fourier or power-spectrum analyses of either gravity (gravity signature) or magnetic (magnetic signature) residual anomalies.
  [ Sciences - A Dictionary of Earth Sciences ]
  A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. Ed. Ailsa Allaby and Michael Allaby. Oxford University Press, 1999. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t13.e7686
• n., The name of a person written in his own hand. Also known as an autograph.
  [ Archives - Dictionary of Archival Terminology ]
  Dictionary of Archival Terminology. 2nd rev. ed. Edited by Peter Walne. New York: K.G. Saur, 1988.
• n., The name or special mark of a person written on a document. The signature may be handwritten by the person in his/her own hand or typed, or may be affixed by an office authorized to do so.
  [ Archives - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp