signory
(ˈsiːnjərɪ)
Forms: α. 5 Sc. sigeniery (!), 6 sygneoury, 6–7 signiorie, 6–9 signory. β. 5 Sc. signery, 6–7 sygnory (6 syng-), signorie (6 sygn-), 5– signory.
[Originally a. OF. signerie, signorie, etc., varr. of seignorie (see seigniory), subsequently influenced by It. signoria (see signoria).]
1. Lordship, domination, rule.
| α c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvii. (Vincent) 106 Othir til our goddis sacrify & haf riches & sigeniery [sic]. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xi. (Percy Soc.) 44 Makyng them lese theyr worthy sygneoury. 1594 Kyd Cornelia iii. iii. 107 Th' inextinguible thyrst of signiorie. 1604 T. Wright Passions v. §2. 216 His Lord and Maister will give him signiorie and authority over all he possesseth. 1632 W. Lithgow Trav. ii. 64 The Signiory thereof belongeth to Venice. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 146 This our recognition of a signiory paramount. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) I. 423 The same sanction was given to those temporary delegations of the signiory to a prince. a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circle i. (1874) 232 My heart, my mind, and all my life, Are given in bondage to her signiory. |
| β c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxviii. (Margaret) 330 And sa thru his ded mychtely of deid [he] oure-come þe signery. c 1440 Generydes 6980 He was a man of grete renown, Sowdon of perce with all his signory. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxvii. 41 The ysle of Creth, the which was vnder their sygnorie. 1533 Bellenden Livy iii. xvii. (S.T.S.) II. 17 Quhat signorie, quhat wikkit empire is this..þat ȝe pretend? 1600 Holland Livy xxvi. i. 582 To..returne unto their old alleagence and obedience to their wonted signorie of Rome. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) II. 166 His..designe is noe other thinge then the temporall signorie of this distracted kingdome. 1875 Maine Hist. Inst. v. 123 Eldest son after eldest son succeeded to the signory. |
b. Authority or supremacy expressed in looks or bearing.
rare.
| 1598 Yong Diana 243 They sawe two louely Shepherdesses (though by their coye lookes shewing a kinde of signorie and statelinesse aboue any other). 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iv. 300 Among the gallery portraits of our Leighs, We shall not find a sweeter signory Than this pure forehead's. |
2. A lordship, domain, territory.
| α 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 211 The kyngedomes and signiories whiche confine with the sayde sea. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. vi. (1628) 181 Their proper Signiories, Lordships or places which they possessed. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 51 This region of Malabar..is divided into several Petit Signiories. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 673 They were empowered to receive gifts and bequests of money, houses, lands, signiories, nay even of slaves. |
| transf. 1607 J. Davies (Heref.) Summa Totalis Wks. (Grosart) I. 11/1 These thrust out Reason of her Signiorie (The Braines) where erst she sate in Siluer Throne. |
| β a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxiv. 404 To conquere agayne your herytage, londys, and sygnoryes. 1598 Stow Surv. i. (1603) 3 The state, comunalty or Signory of the Trinobantes. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage v. viii. 412 To divide the soile into many Signories and Kingdomes. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. i. Wks. 1851 III. 15 His Sons..won them Lands and Signories in Germany. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1781) V. xxix. 202, I shall take a view of the works projecting by the Duke of Modena, in order to render his little Signory considerable. |
† 3. = signorship.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits 225 Signore, your signory shall vnderstand, that souldiers who haue enioyed the libertie of Italy, cannot content themselues to make abode in Spain. |
4. A governing body,
esp. that of Venice or other mediæval Italian republic.
Cf. signoria.
| 1604 T. Wright Passions v. 159 The Arcadian signorie consider..the inhabitants..barbarous, sauage, and wild. 1612 W. Shute tr. Fougasses's Venice II. 481 A goodly Church..whither the Signory and Clergy doe yeerely goe in procession. 1652 M. Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 99 The Venetians and their Signiory for very many ages have been and are in possession of the aforesaid Gulf. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour, Italy III. 138 The legislative authority is lodged in the great senate, consisting of the signory, and 400 noble⁓men. The signory consists of the Doge and twelve other members. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. i. i. 3 But still the Signory is deep in council. 1837 Hallam Hist. Lit. i. iii. §59 The Palazzo Vecchio, in which the signiory of Florence held their councils. 1873 Dixon Two Queens IV. xx. viii. 108, ‘I hear on good authority,’ said Fisher to the Signory, ‘that Cardinal Wolsey is not now in favour of a divorce’. |