Etymograph

English

obsign

Obsign comes from Latin obsignō ‘to seal up’, from signō ‘to mark, stamp, imprint’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnom1‘sign’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnāō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignō2‘to mark, stamp, imprint’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobsignō3‘to seal up’
  5. Englishtodayobsign3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin signo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin obsigno
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English obsign

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnomWiktionary, Latin signo‘sign’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnāōWiktionary, Latin signoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignōWiktionary, Latin obsigno‘to mark, stamp, imprint’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobsignōWiktionary, English obsign‘to seal up’
  5. EnglishtodayobsignWiktionary, English obsign

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’

saw, sex, risk, section, ship, sexual, segment, sack, insect, scarlet, sawyer, sealing, sax, het, shingle, sickle, dissect, scythe, seg, sedge, sich, desiccation, brassica, desiccant, 48 more

through Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’

significant, seal, signal, significance, signify, ensign, insignia, signet, sigil, signification, 13 more

through Proto-Italic *segnāō

designation, assignation, 4 more

through Latin signō ‘to mark, stamp, imprint’

design, resign, assign, sain, consign, 6 more

Today it means

verb To seal; to confirm, as by a seal or stamp.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “obsign”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin signo, Latin obsigno. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *segnom / obsign

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