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Sorceries to raise the infernal pow’rs. 
And sigils fram’d in planetary hours. Dry den. 
SIG1LLARIA, a solemn feast held among the ancient 
Romans; thus called from a.custom which obtained therein, 
of sending little presents froni one to another, consisting of 
seals, little figures, and sculptures, made of gold, silver, 
brass, or even earthenware, and of devoting them to Saturn, 
as an atonement for themselves and their friends. 
SIGILLATA TERRA, a name given to several kinds 
of medicinal earths formerly marked with seals, to express 
their being genuine. 
SI'GILLATIVE, s. [sigillatif, Fr., from sigillum, Lat.] 
Fit to seal; belonging to a seal; composed of wax. Un¬ 
used. 
SIGILLO, in Geography, a town of Italy, in Umbria; 
12 miles north of Nocera. 
SIGILLUM MARUE, or Lady’s Seal, in Botany, a name 
by which some authors have called the bryonia nigra, or 
black bryony. 
SIGMARINGEN, a small town in the south-west of Ger¬ 
many, on the Danube, with 800 inhabitants. It is the resi¬ 
dence of the princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; 29 miles 
north of Constance. 
SIGMARINGEN, (the principality). See Hohenzol- 
lern. 
SIGMOID, in Anatomy, an epithet applied to various 
parts of the body, from their figure being similar to that of 
the Greek letter ?. Thus, we have the sigmoid cavities of 
the ulna, sigmoid flexure of the colon, and sigmoid valves 
of the aorta and pulmonary artery. See Anatomy. 
SIGMO'IDAL, adj. [sigmoidal, Fr.; from the Greek 
letter called sigma, and eiSo?, figure, form.} Curved, like 
the Greek letter already named: a medical term.—It must 
necessarily thrust the blood through the open passage of the 
vena arteriosa, where the sigmoidal portals hindering its 
return, it must pass through the strainer of the lungs. 
Smith. 
SIGN, s. [pejn. Sax.; signe, Fr.; signutn, Lat.] A 
token of any thing; that by which any thing is shown.— 
Signs for communication may be contrived from any variety 
of objects of one kind appertaining to either sense. Holder. 
—When any one uses any term, he may have in his mind a 
determined idea which he makes it the sign of, and to which 
he should keep it steadily annexed. Locke .—A wonder; a 
miracle; a prodigy.—If they will not hearken to the voice 
of the first sign, they will not believe the latter sign. Exod. 
—Compell’d by signs and judgments dire. Milton. — 
A picture or token hung at a door, to give notice what 
is sold within. — Underneath an alehouse’ paltry sign. 
Shakspeare. 
True sorrow’s like to wine. 
That which is good does never need a sign. Suckling. 
A monument; a memorial.—An outward and visible sign 
of an inward and spiritual grace. Common Prayer.—A 
constellation in the zodiac. 
There stay until the twelve celestial signs 
Have brought about their annual reckoning. Shakspeare. 
Note or token given without words.—They made signs to 
his father. Luke. —Mark of distinction ; cognizance. 
The ensign of Messiah blaz’d. 
Aloft by angels borne, his sign in heaven. Milton. 
Typical representation; symbol.—The holy symbols or 
signs are not barely significative; but what they represent 
is as certainly delivered to us as the symbols themselves. 
Brerewood. —A subscription of one’s name; as, a sign 
manual. 
To SIGN, v. a. [pegman, Sax.; signer, Fr.; signo, Lat.] 
To mark.—We receive this child into the congregation of 
Christ’s flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross. 
Comm. Prayer. —To denote; to show. 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1564. 
You sign your place and calling in full seeming 
With meekness and humility; but your heart 
Is cramm’d with arrogancy. Shakspeare. 
To ratify by hand or seal. [To sign, as to sign a writing, 
is an expression drawn from the practice of our ancestors the 
Anglo-Saxons, who, in attesting their charters, prefixed the 
sign of the cross to their names.—Hence it comes to pass, 
that when a person that cannot write is to make his mark, 
he usually makes a cross. And I apprehend that such 
Saxons as could not write, made their crosses; and the scribe 
wrote their names. Pegge. Anonym.'} 
Be pleas’d to sign these papers: they are all 
Of great concern! Dry den. 
To betoken; to signify; to represent typically.—The 
sacraments and symbols are just such as they seem ; but be¬ 
cause they are made to be signs of a secret mystery, they 
receive the names of what themselves do sign. Bp. Taylor. 
To SIGN, v. n. To be a sign, or omen. 
Musick i’ the air?—Under the earth.— 
—It signs well, does’t not ?—No. Shakspeare. 
SI'GNAL, s. [sennale, Spanish.] Notice given by a 
sign ; a sign that gives notice. 
The weary sun hath made a golden set, 
And, by the bright track of his fiery car. 
Gives signal of a goodly day to-morrow. Shakspeare. 
SI'GNAL, adj. [signal, Fr.] Eminent; memorable; 
remarkable.—The Thames frozen twice in one year, so as 
men to walk on it, is a very signal accident. Swift. 
SIGNA'LITY, s. Quality of something remarkable or 
memorable.—Of the ways whereby they enquired and deter¬ 
mined its signality, the first was natural, arising from phy¬ 
sical causes. Browh. 
To Sl'GNALlZE, v. a. [signaler, Fr.] To make emi¬ 
nent ; to make remarkable.—Some one eminent spirit, 
having signalized his valour and fortune in defence of his 
country, or by popular arts at home, becomes to have great 
influence on the people. Swift. 
Sl'GNALLY, adv. Eminently; remarkably; memorably. 
—Persons signally and eminently obliged, yet missing of 
the utmost of their greedy designs in swallowing both gifts 
and giver too, instead of thanks for received kindnesses, have 
betook themselves to barbarous threatnings. South. 
SIGN AN, a village and castle of the Swiss canton of Bern, 
in the Emmenthal; 12 miles south-east of Bern. 
SIGNA'TION, s. [from signo, Lat.] Sign given ; act of 
betokening.—A horseshoe Baptista Porta hath thought too 
low a signation, he raised unto a lunary representation. 
Brown. 
Sl'GNATURE, s. [signature, from signo, Lat.] A 
sign or mark impressed upon any thing; a stamp ; a mark. 
Vulgar parents cannot stamp their race 
With signatures of such majestic grace. Pope. 
A mark upon any matter, particularly upon plants, by 
which their nature or medicinal use is pointed out.—All bo¬ 
dies work by the communication of their nature, or by the 
impression and signatures of their motions: the diffusion of 
species visible, seemeth to participate more of the former, and 
the species audible of the latter. Bacon- —Proof drawn 
from marks.—The most despicable pieces of decayed nature 
are curiously wrought with eminent signatures of divine 
wisdom. Glanville. —[Among printers.] Some letter or 
figure to distinguish different sheets. 
SI'GNATURIST, s. One who holds the doctrine of sig¬ 
natures. A word little used—Signaturists seldom omit 
what the ancients delivered, drawing unto inference received 
distinctions. Brown. 
SI'GNER, s. One that signs. 
SIGNES, a small town in the south-east of France, de¬ 
partment of the Var, on a river called the Tay. Population. 
1500; 11 miles north of Toulon. 
3 F 
SI'GNET; 
