Sight Sight noun [ Middle English sight , si...t , siht , Anglo-Saxon siht , ge siht , ge sih... , ge sieh... , ge syh... ; akin to D. ge zicht , German sicht , ge sicht , Danish sigte , Swedish sigt , from the root of English see . See See , transitive verb ] 1. The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view; as, to gain sight of land.

A cloud received him out of their sight .

Acts. i. 9.

2. The power of seeing; the faculty of vision, or of perceiving objects by the instrumentality of the eyes.

Thy sight is young,
And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.

Shak.

O loss of sight , of thee I most complain!

Milton.

3. The state of admitting unobstructed vision; visibility; open view; region which the eye at one time surveys; space through which the power of vision extends; as, an object within sight .

4. A spectacle; a view; a show; something worth seeing.

Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight , why the bush is not burnt.

Ex. iii. 3.

They never saw a sight so fair.

Spenser.

5. The instrument of seeing; the eye.

Why cloud they not their sights ?

Shak.

6. Inspection; examination; as, a letter intended for the sight of only one person.

7. Mental view; opinion; judgment; as, in their sight it was harmless. Wake.

That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Luke xvi. 15.

8. A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained; as, the sight of a quadrant.

Thier eyes of fire sparking through sights of steel.

Shak.

9. A small piece of metal, fixed or movable, on the breech, muzzle, center, or trunnion of a gun, or on the breech and the muzzle of a rifle, pistol, etc., by means of which the eye is guided in aiming. Farrow.

10. In a drawing, picture, etc., that part of the surface, as of paper or canvas, which is within the frame or the border or margin. In a frame or the like, the open space, the opening.

11. A great number, quantity, or sum; as, a sight of money. [ Now colloquial]

» Sight in this last sense was formerly employed in the best usage. "A sight of lawyers." Latimer.

A wonder sight of flowers.

Gower.

At sight , as soon as seen, or presented to sight; as, a draft payable at sight : to read Greek at sight ; to shoot a person at sight . -- Front sight (Firearms) , the sioht nearost the ouzzle. -- Open sight . (Firearms) (a) A front sight through which the objects aimed at may be seen, in distinction from one that hides the object . (b) A rear sight having an open notch instead of an aperture. -- Peep sight , Rear sight . See under Peep , and Rear . -- Sight draft , an order, or bill of exchange, directing the payment of money at sight. -- To take sight , to take aim; to look for the purpose of directing a piece of artillery, or the like.

Syn. -- Vision; view; show; spectacle; representation; exhibition.

Sight Sight transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Sighted ; present participle & verbal noun Sighting .] 1. To get sight of; to see; as, to sight land; to sight a wreck. Kane.

2. To look at through a sight; to see accurately; as, to sight an object, as a star.

3. To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of; also, to give the proper elevation and direction to by means of a sight; as, to sight a rifle or a cannon.

Sight Sight intransitive verb (Mil.) To take aim by a sight.

Sight-hole Sight"-hole` noun A hole for looking through; a peephole. "Stop all sight-holes ." Shak.

Sight-seeing Sight"-see`ing adjective Engaged in, or given to, seeing sights; eager for novelties or curiosities.

Sight-seeing Sight"-see`ing noun The act of seeing sights; eagerness for novelties or curiosities.

Sight-seer Sight"-se`er noun One given to seeing sights or noted things, or eager for novelties or curiosities.

Sight-shot Sight"-shot` noun Distance to which the sight can reach or be thrown. [ R.] Cowley.

Sighted Sight"ed adjective Having sight, or seeing, in a particular manner; -- used in composition; as, long- sighted , short- sighted , quick- sighted , sharp- sighted , and the like.

Sightful Sight"ful adjective Easily or clearly seen; distinctly visible; perspicuous. [ Obsolete] Testament of Love.

Sightfulness Sight"ful·ness noun The state of being sightful; perspicuity. [ Obsolete] Sir P. Sidney.

Sighting Sight"ing adjective & noun from Sight , transitive verb

Sighting shot , a shot made to ascertain whether the sights of a firearm are properly adjusted; a trial shot.

Sightless Sight"less adjective 1. Wanting sight; without sight; blind.

Of all who blindly creep or sightless soar.

Pope.

2. That can not be seen; invisible. [ Obsolete]

The sightless couriers of the air.

Shak.

3. Offensive or unpleasing to the eye; unsightly; as, sightless stains. [ R.] Shak.

-- Sight"less*ly , adverb - Sight"less*ness , noun

Sightliness Sight"li·ness noun The state of being sightly; comeliness; conspicuousness.

Sightly Sight"ly adjective 1. Pleasing to the sight; comely. "Many brave, sightly horses." L'Estrange.

2. Open to sight; conspicuous; as, a house stands in a sightly place.

Sightproof Sight"proof` adjective Undiscoverable to sight.

Hidden in their own sightproof bush.

Lowell.

Sightsman Sights"man noun ; plural Sightsmen (Mus.) One who reads or performs music readily at first sight. [ R.] Busby.

Sigil Sig"il noun [ Latin sigillum . See Seal a stamp.] A seal; a signature. Dryden.

Of talismans and sigils knew the power.

Pope.

Sigillaria Sig`il·la"ri·a noun plural [ Latin , from sigillum a seal. See Sigil .] (Rom. Antic.) Little images or figures of earthenware exposed for sale, or given as presents, on the last two days of the Saturnalia; hence, the last two, or the sixth and seventh, days of the Saturnalia.

Sigillaria Sig`il·la"ri·a noun [ New Latin , fem sing. from Latin sigillum a seal.] (Paleon.) A genus of fossil trees principally found in the coal formation; -- so named from the seallike leaf scars in vertical rows on the surface.

Sigillarid Sig`il·la"rid noun (Paleon.) One of an extinct family of cryptagamous trees, including the genus Sigillaria and its allies.

Sigillated Sig"il·la`ted adjective [ Latin sigillatus adorned with little images.] Decorated by means of stamps; -- said of pottery.

Sigillative Sig"il·la·tive adjective [ Latin sigillum a seal: confer Old French sigillatif .] Fit to seal; belonging to a seal; composed of wax. [ R.]

Sigillum Si·gil"lum noun ; plural Sigilla . [ Latin ] (Rom. & Old Eng. Law) A seal.

Sigla Sig"la noun plural [ Latin ] The signs, abbreviations, letters, or characters standing for words, shorthand, etc., in ancient manuscripts, or on coins, medals, etc. W. Savage.

Sigma Sig"ma noun ; plural Sigmas . [ Latin , from Greek ........., ..........] The Greek letter Σ, σ, or &sigmat; (English S , or s ). It originally had the form of the English C.

Sigmodont Sig"mo·dont noun [ Greek ......... sigma + ........., ........., a tooth.] (Zoology) Any one of a tribe ( Sigmodontes ) of rodents which includes all the indigenous rats and mice of America. So called from the form of the ridges of enamel on the crowns of the worn molars. Also used adjectively.

Sigmoid, Sigmoidal Sig"moid, Sig·moid"al adjective [ Greek .........; ......... sigma + ......... form, likeness: confer French sigmoïde .] Curved in two directions, like the letter S, or the Greek &sigmat;.

Sigmoid flexure (Anat.) , the last curve of the colon before it terminates in the rectum. See Illust. under Digestive . -- Sigmoid valves . (Anat.) See Semilunar valves , under Semilunar .

Sigmoidally Sig·moid"al·ly adverb In a sigmoidal manner.

Sign Sign noun [ French signe , Latin signum ; confer Anglo-Saxon segen , segn , a sign, standard, banner, also from Latin signum . Confer Ensign , Resign , Seal a stamp, Signal , Signet .] That by which anything is made known or represented; that which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof. Specifically: (a) A remarkable event, considered by the ancients as indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen. (b) An event considered by the Jews as indicating the divine will, or as manifesting an interposition of the divine power for some special end; a miracle; a wonder.

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.

Rom. xv. 19.

It shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign , that they will believe the voice of the latter sign .

Ex. iv. 8.

(c) Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument.

What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign .

Num. xxvi. 10.

(d) Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture.

The holy symbols, or signs , are not barely significative; but what they represent is as certainly delivered to us as the symbols themselves.

Brerewood.

Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory.

Spenser.

(e) A word or a character regarded as the outward manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of ideas. (f) A motion, an action, or a gesture by which a thought is expressed, or a command or a wish made known.

They made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

Luke i. 62.

(g) Hence, one of the gestures of pantomime, or of a language of a signs such as those used by the North American Indians, or those used by the deaf and dumb.

» Educaters of the deaf distinguish between natural signs , which serve for communicating ideas, and methodical , or systematic , signs , adapted for the dictation, or the rendering, of written language, word by word; and thus the signs are to be distinguished from the manual alphabet , by which words are spelled on the fingers.

(h) A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard. Milton. (i) A lettered board, or other conspicuous notice, placed upon or before a building, room, shop, or office to advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm carrying it on; a publicly displayed token or notice.

The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted signs , which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the streets.

Macaulay.

(j) (Astron.) The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac.

» The signs are reckoned from the point of intersection of the ecliptic and equator at the vernal equinox, and are named, respectively, Aries (&Aries;), Taurus (&Taurus;), Gemini (II), Cancer (&Cancer;), Leo (&Leo;), Virgo (&Virgo;), Libra (&Libra;), Scorpio (&Scorpio;), Sagittarius (&Sagittarius;), Capricornus (&Capricorn;), Aquarius (&Aquarius;), Pisces (&Pisces;). These names were originally the names of the constellations occupying severally the divisions of the zodiac, by which they are still retained; but, in consequence of the procession of the equinoxes, the signs have, in process of time, become separated about 30 degrees from these constellations, and each of the latter now lies in the sign next in advance, or to the east of the one which bears its name, as the constellation Aries in the sign Taurus, etc.

(k) (Alg.) A character indicating the relation of quantities, or an operation performed upon them; as, the sign + (plus); the sign -- (minus); the sign of division ÷, and the like. (l) (Medicine) An objective evidence of disease; that is, one appreciable by some one other than the patient.

» The terms symptom and and sign are often used synonymously; but they may be discriminated. A sign differs from a symptom in that the latter is perceived only by the patient himself. The term sign is often further restricted to the purely local evidences of disease afforded by direct examination of the organs involved, as distinguished from those evidence of general disturbance afforded by observation of the temperature, pulse, etc. In this sense it is often called physical sign .

(m) (Mus.) Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc. (n) (Theol.) That which, being external, stands for, or signifies, something internal or spiritual; -- a term used in the Church of England in speaking of an ordinance considered with reference to that which it represents.

An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

Bk. of Common Prayer.

» See the Table of Arbitrary Signs , p. 1924.

Sign manual . (a) (Eng. Law) The royal signature superscribed at the top of bills of grants and letter patent, which are then sealed with the privy signet or great seal, as the case may be, to complete their validity . (b) The signature of one's name in one's own handwriting. Craig. Tomlins. Wharton.

Syn. -- Token; mark; note; symptom; indication; signal; symbol; type; omen; prognostic; presage; manifestation. See Emblem .

Sign Sign transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Signed ; present participle & verbal noun Signing .] [ Middle English seinen to bless, originally, to make the sign of the cross over; in this sense from ASS. segnian (from segn , noun ), or Old French seignier , French signer , to mark, to sign (in sense 3), from Latin signare to mark, set a mark upon, from signum . See Sign , noun ] 1. To represent by a sign; to make known in a typical or emblematic manner, in distinction from speech; to signify.

I signed to Browne to make his retreat.

Sir W. Scott.

2. To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign.

We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the cross.

Bk. of Com Prayer.

3. To affix a signature to; to ratify by hand or seal; to subscribe in one's own handwriting.

Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed,
And let him sign it.

Shak.

4. To assign or convey formally; -- used with away .

5. To mark; to make distinguishable. Shak.

Sign Sign intransitive verb 1. To be a sign or omen. [ Obsolete] Shak.

2. To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or intelligence by signs.

3. To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent, responsibility, or obligation.

Signable Sign"a·ble adjective Suitable to be signed; requiring signature; as, a legal document signable by a particular person.

Signal Sig"nal noun [ French, from Late Latin signale , from Latin signum . See Sign , noun ] 1. A sign made for the purpose of giving notice to a person of some occurence, command, or danger; also, a sign, event, or watchword, which has been agreed upon as the occasion of concerted action.

All obeyed
The wonted signal and superior voice
Of this great potentate.

Milton.

2. A token; an indication; a foreshadowing; a sign.

The weary sun . . .
Gives signal of a goodly day to-morrow.

Shak.

There was not the least signal of the calamity to be seen.

De Foc.

Signal Sig"nal adjective [ From signal , noun : confer French signalé .] 1. Noticeable; distinguished from what is ordinary; eminent; remarkable; memorable; as, a signal exploit; a signal service; a signal act of benevolence.

As signal now in low, dejected state
As erst in highest, behold him where he lies.

Milton.

2. Of or pertaining to signals, or the use of signals in conveying information; as, a signal flag or officer.

The signal service , a bureau of the government (in the United States connected with the War Department) organized to collect from the whole country simultaneous raports of local meteorological conditions, upon comparison of which at the central office, predictions concerning the weather are telegraphed to various sections, where they are made known by signals publicly displayed. -- Signal station , the place where a signal is displayed; specifically, an observation office of the signal service.

Syn. -- Eminent; remarkable; memorable; extraordinary; notable; conspicuous.

Signal Sig"nal transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Signaled or Signalled ; present participle & verbal noun Signaling or Signalling .] 1. To communicate by signals; as, to signal orders.

2. To notify by a signals; to make a signal or signals to; as, to signal a fleet to anchor. M. Arnold.

Signalist Sig"nal·ist noun One who makes signals; one who communicates intelligence by means of signals.

Signality Sig·nal"i·ty noun The quality or state of being signal or remarkable. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Signalize Sig"nal·ize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Signalized ; present participle & verbal noun Signalizing .] [ From Signal , adjective ] 1. To make signal or eminent; to render distinguished from what is common; to distinguish.

It is this passion which drives men to all the ways we see in use of signalizing themselves.

Burke.

2. To communicate with by means of a signal; as, a ship signalizes its consort.

3. To indicate the existence, presence, or fact of, by a signal; as, to signalize the arrival of a steamer.

Signally Sig"nal·ly adverb In a signal manner; eminently.

Signalman Sig"nal·man noun ; plural -men A man whose business is to manage or display signals; especially, one employed in setting the signals by which railroad trains are run or warned.

Signalment Sig"nal·ment noun The act of signaling, or of signalizing; hence, description by peculiar, appropriate, or characteristic marks. Mrs. Browning.

Signate Sig"nate adjective [ Latin signatus , past participle See Sign , transitive verb ] (Zoology) Having definite color markings.

Signation Sig·na"tion noun [ Latin signatio . See Sign , transitive verb ] Sign given; marking. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Signatory Sig"na·to·ry adjective [ Latin signatorius .] 1. Relating to a seal; used in sealing. [ Obsolete] Bailey.

2. Signing; joining or sharing in a signature; as, signatory powers.

Signatory Sig"na·to·ry noun ; plural - ries A signer; one who signs or subscribes; as, a conference of signatories .

Signature Sig"na·ture noun [ French (cf. Italian signatura , segnatura , Spanish & Late Latin signatura ), from Latin signare , signatum . See Sign , transitive verb ] 1. A sign, stamp, or mark impressed, as by a seal.

The brain, being well furnished with various traces, signatures , and images.

I. Watts.

The natural and indelible signature of God, which human souls . . . are supposed to be stamped with.

Bentley.

2. Especially, the name of any person, written with his own hand, employed to signify that the writing which precedes accords with his wishes or intentions; a sign manual; an autograph.

3. (Physiol.) An outward mark by which internal characteristics were supposed to be indicated.

Some plants bear a very evident signature of their nature and use.

Dr. H. More.

4. (Old Med.) A resemblance between the external characters of a disease and those of some physical agent, for instance, that existing between the red skin of scarlet fever and a red cloth; -- supposed to indicate this agent in the treatment of the disease.

5. (Mus.) The designation of the key (when not C major, or its relative, A minor) by means of one or more sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff, immediately after the clef, affecting all notes of the same letter throughout the piece or movement. Each minor key has the same signature as its relative major.

6. (Print.) (a) A letter or figure placed at the bottom of the first page of each sheet of a book or pamphlet, as a direction to the binder in arranging and folding the sheets. (b) The printed sheet so marked, or the form from which it is printed; as, to reprint one or more signatures .

» Star signatures (as A*, 1*) are the same characters, with the addition of asterisks, used on the first pages of offcuts, as in 12mo sheets.

7. (Pharm.) That part of a prescription which contains the directions to the patient. It is usually prefaced by S or Sig. (an abbreviation for the Latin signa , imperative of signare to sign or mark).

Signature Sig"na·ture transitive verb To mark with, or as with, a signature or signatures.

Signaturist Sig"na·tur`ist noun One who holds to the doctrine of signatures impressed upon objects, indicative of character or qualities. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Signboard Sign"board` noun A board, placed on or before a shop, office, etc., on which ssome notice is given, as the name of a firm, of a business, or the like.

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