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Glite Dictionary
📝 To join a company 🔑 To log in
to sign on

to sign on

3 3.5
Enter your user name and password to access a computer or online service
  • phrasal verb
  • /saɪn ɑn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : iniciar sesión
  • He will sign on to the website to check his account balance.
  • sign on to AOL
  • just signed on

Examples

  • Typically, a user must sign on to their home institution using their local username and password before being granted access to a remote online resource.

    Blog text (16)

  • Simply sign on and join a college course from anywhere in the world.

    Blog text (9)

  • I have a Dish Satellite TV subscription, so I am watching the live online coverage on nbcolympics.com, which lets you sign on with your TV provider info, as long as it includes CNBC and MSNBC.

    Blog text (23)

  • To access the system, you must first sign on using your username and password.

  • Make sure to sign on before trying to download any files.

Synonyms

to sign in
vsto sign on
58 1.8

Enter your name or details to show you have arrived

is used for authenticating access rather than simply noting arrival
to log on
vsto sign on
  • Texting
55 3.0

Enter a computer system or website using your username and password

is the same computing action focused on accessing systems via authentication
to log in
vsto sign on
  • Texting
44 2.7

Enter a computer or online account using your username and password

is the broader computing term for authenticating to gain access

Antonyms

to log off
  • Texting
5 2.8

To stop using a computer or website and sign out

How Authenticated

to authenticate
  • Specialized
35 6.7
to sign on
  • Specialized
3 3.5
to log in
  • Texting
44 2.7

Surface Forms

sign on infinitive
signed on past
signed on past participle
signing on present participle
signs on third person singular

Morphology

sign + on

The combination of 'sign' (to register or mark agreement) and 'on' (indicating joining or being active) gives a plausible cue that this involves registering or joining a service, so learners may infer a general sense of entering or joining. However, the precise computing meaning—authenticating by entering credentials—is a metaphorical extension from physical signing and not strictly derivable from the literal senses, so it is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Sign on in computing borrows that same image of writing your name to show you belong. In computers you enter your name and password like putting your name on a list, so sign on means 'to log in' or 'to gain access to a system'.