Definition of SIGNATORY

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A signatory puts his or her signature on a document that is also signed by others. In 1215 the English barons revolted against King John and forced him to join them as a signatory to the Magna Carta. This agreement stated the barons' own duties to the King but also assigned the barons clear rights and limited the King's power over them. Though the Magna Carta did nothing for the common people, it's often been called the first step toward democracy in the English-speaking countries.

Examples of signatory in a Sentence

a signatory of the Declaration of Independence

Recent Examples on the Web

Unlike the United States and Russia, China was not a signatory to the INF Treaty and developed a wide array of ballistic and cruise missiles to compensate for lack of long range attack aircraft and bombers. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Pentagon Prepares to Build Banned Missiles as Treaty Expires," 11 Mar. 2019 The three European countries were also signatories of the 2015 deal, meant to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. — Pan Pylas, BostonGlobe.com, "France, Germany, UK seek exemptions for EU companies from any US sanctions on Iran," 6 June 2018 The full text of the pledge can be read below, and a full list of signatories can be found here: Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to play an increasing role in military systems. — James Vincent, The Verge, "Elon Musk, DeepMind founders, and others sign pledge to not develop lethal AI weapon systems," 18 July 2018 So, what actually happened on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia was a much more low-key gathering, and most of the signatories didn’t put their names on the document until Aug. 2, with some signing it as late as 1777. — Olivia B. Waxman, Time, "This Painting Is Probably How You Imagine the Original Fourth of July. Here's What's Wrong With It," 3 July 2018 But some signatories to the 2016 pact to cut supplies say that China’s huge and opaque store of oil needs to be taken into account after being ignored for years, according to OPEC officials. — Sarah Mcfarlane, WSJ, "OPEC Faces New Concern Over Global Oil Stocks: China," 5 June 2018 The half-dozen signatories of the response include Phandeeyar, a leading technology hub in the country; the Myanmar ICT for Development Organization, which monitors online hate speech; and the Center for Social Integrity. — Kevin Roose And Paul Mozur, New York Times, "Zuckerberg Was Called Out Over Myanmar Violence. Here’s His Apology.," 9 Apr. 2018 Beijing also plans to finalize a Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement that would include ASEAN countries and six other Asian Free Trade Agreements signatories. — Karen J. Alter, Washington Post, "Trump’s tariffs aren’t the biggest trade problem. Will China step up to protect the WTO?," 18 June 2018 Other signatories include Article 19, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Ranking Digital Rights, PEN America and Canada, and the American Civil Liberties Union. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "Human rights groups want Facebook to offer users ‘due process’ for takedowns," 14 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'signatory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.