What is "seal"

Seal \Seal\, v. i. To affix one's seal, or a seal. [Obs.]

I will seal unto this bond.
--Shak.

Seal \Seal\ (s[=e]l), n. [OE. sele, AS. seolh; akin to OHG. selah, Dan. s[ae]l, Sw. sj["a]l, Icel. selr.] (Zo["o]l.) Any aquatic carnivorous mammal of the families Phocid[ae] and Otariid[ae].

Note: Seals inhabit seacoasts, and are found principally in the higher latitudes of both hemispheres. There are numerous species, bearing such popular names as sea lion, sea leopard, sea bear, or ursine seal, fur seal, and sea elephant. The bearded seal ( Erignathus barbatus), the hooded seal ( Cystophora cristata), and the ringed seal ( Phoca f[oe]tida), are northern species. See also Eared seal, Harp seal, Monk seal, and Fur seal, under Eared, Harp, Monk, and Fur. Seals are much hunted for their skins and fur, and also for their oil, which in some species is very abundant.

Harbor seal (Zo["o]l.), the common seal ( Phoca vitulina). It inhabits both the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Ocean, and often ascends rivers; -- called also marbled seal, native seal, river seal, bay seal, land seal, sea calf, sea cat, sea dog, dotard, ranger, selchie, tangfish.

Seal \Seal\, n. [OE. seel, OF. seel, F. sceau, fr. L. sigillum a little figure or image, a seal, dim. of signum a mark, sign, figure, or image. See Sign, n., and cf. Sigil.]

1. An engraved or inscribed stamp, used for marking an impression in wax or other soft substance, to be attached to a document, or otherwise used by way of authentication or security.

2. Wax, wafer, or other tenacious substance, set to an instrument, and impressed or stamped with a seal; as, to give a deed under hand and seal.

   Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud.
   --Shak.

3. That which seals or fastens; esp., the wax or wafer placed on a letter or other closed paper, etc., to fasten it.

4. That which confirms, ratifies, or makes stable; that which authenticates; that which secures; assurance. ``Under the seal of silence.''
   --Milton.

   Like a red seal is the setting sun On the good and the evil men have done.
   --Longfellow.

5. An arrangement for preventing the entrance or return of gas or air into a pipe, by which the open end of the pipe dips beneath the surface of water or other liquid, or a deep bend or sag in the pipe is filled with the liquid; a draintrap.

   Great seal. See under Great.

   Privy seal. See under Privy, a.

   Seal lock, a lock in which the keyhole is covered by a seal in such a way that the lock can not be opened without rupturing the seal.

   Seal manual. See under Manual, a.

   Seal ring, a ring having a seal engraved on it, or ornamented with a device resembling a seal; a signet ring.
   --Shak.

Seal \Seal\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sealed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sealing.] [OE. selen; cf. OF. seeler, seieler, F. sceller, LL. sigillare. See Seal a stamp.]

1. To set or affix a seal to; hence, to authenticate; to confirm; to ratify; to establish; as, to seal a deed.

   And with my hand I seal my true heart's love.
   --Shak.

2. To mark with a stamp, as an evidence of standard exactness, legal size, or merchantable quality; as, to seal weights and measures; to seal silverware.

3. To fasten with a seal; to attach together with a wafer, wax, or other substance causing adhesion; as, to seal a letter.

4. Hence, to shut close; to keep close; to make fast; to keep secure or secret.

   Seal up your lips, and give no words but ``mum''.
   --Shak.

5. To fix, as a piece of iron in a wall, with cement, plaster, or the like.
   --Gwilt.

6. To close by means of a seal; as, to seal a drainpipe with water. See 2d Seal, 5.

7. Among the Mormons, to confirm or set apart as a second or additional wife. [Utah, U.S.]

   If a man once married desires a second helpmate . . . she is sealed to him under the solemn sanction of the church.
   --H. Stansbury.

"design stamped on wax," especially one attached to a document as evidence of authenticity, c.1200, from Old French seel "seal on a letter" (Modern French sceau), from Vulgar Latin *sigellum (source of Italian suggello, Spanish sello; also Old Frisian and Middle High German sigel, German Siegel), from Latin sigillum "small picture, engraved figure, seal," diminutive of signum "mark, token" (see sign (n.)). An earlier borrowing directly from Latin is represented by Old English insigel. Technical use, "what prevents the escape of a gas or liquid" is from 1853.

fish-eating mammal with flippers, Old English seolh "seal," from Proto-Germanic *selkhaz (compare Old Norse selr, Swedish sjöl, Danish sæl, Middle Low German sel, Middle Dutch seel, Old High German selah), of unknown origin, perhaps a borrowing from Finnic. Seal point "dark brown marking on a Siamese cat" is recorded from 1934, from the dark brown color of seal fur; compare seal brown "rich, dark brown color," by 1875. Old English seolhbæð, literally "seal's bath," was an Anglo-Saxon kenning for "the sea."

"to fasten with (or as with) a seal," c.1200, from seal (n.1). Meaning "to place a seal on (a document)" is recorded from mid-14c.; hence "to conclude, ratify, render official" (late 15c.). Sense of "to close up with wax, lead, cement, etc." is attested from 1660s, from the notion of wax seals on envelopes. In reference to the actions of wood-coatings, 1940. Related: Sealed; sealing. Sealing-wax is attested from c.1300. To seal (one's) fate (1799) probably reflects the notion of a seal on an execution warrant.

Etymology 1 n. A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal. vb. (context intransitive English) To hunt seals. Etymology 2

n. 1 A stamp used to impress a design on a soft substance such as wax. 2 An impression of a stamp on wax or paper. 3 (rft-sense) A design or insignia usually associated with an organization or an official role. 4 Anything that secures or authenticates. 5 (rft-sense) Something which will be visibly damaged if a covering or container is opened, and which may or may not bear an official design. 6 Confirmation or an indication of confirmation. 7 Something designed to prevent liquids or gases from leaking through a joint. 8 A tight closure, secure against leakage. 9 A chakr

1. v

2. 1 (context transitive English) To place a seal on (a document). 2 To mark with a stamp, as an evidence of standard exactness, legal size, or merchantable quality. 3 (context transitive English) To fasten (something) so that it cannot be opened without visible damage. 4 (context transitive English) To prevent people or vehicles from crossing (something). 5 (context transitive English) To close securely to prevent leakage. 6 (context transitive English) To place in a sealed container. 7 (context transitive chess English) To place a notation of one's next move in a sealed envelope to be opened after an adjournment. 8 (context transitive English) To guarantee. 9 To fix, as a piece of iron in a wall, with cement or plaster, et

3. 10 To close by means of a seal. 11 (context Mormonism English) To confirm or set apart as a second or additional wife. Etymology 3

   vb. (context dialectal English) To tie up animals (especially cattle) in their stalls.

1. n. fastener consisting of a resinous composition that is plastic when warm; used for sealing documents and parcels and letters [syn: sealing wax]

2. a device incised to make an impression; used to secure a closing or to authenticate documents [syn: stamp]

3. the pelt or fur (especially the underfur) of a seal; "a coat of seal" [syn: sealskin]

4. a member of a Naval Special Warfare unit who is trained for unconventional warfare; "SEAL is an acronym for Sea Air and Land" [syn: Navy SEAL]

5. a stamp affixed to a document (as to attest to its authenticity or to seal it); "the warrant bore the sheriff's seal"

6. an indication of approved or superior status [syn: cachet, seal of approval]

7. a finishing coat applied to exclude moisture

8. fastener that provides a tight and perfect closure

9. any of numerous marine mammals that come on shore to breed; chiefly of cold regions

1. v. close with or as if with a seal; "She sealed the letter with hot wax" [ant: unseal]

2. make tight; secure against leakage; "seal the windows" [syn: seal off]

3. decide irrevocably; "sealing dooms"

4. affix a seal to; "seal the letter"

5. cover with varnish [syn: varnish]

6. hunt seals

Seal commonly refers to:

• Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals.
• Seal (emblem), an emblem used as a means of authentication; both an impression in paper, wax, clay or other medium, and the device used
• Seal (mechanical), a device which helps prevent leakage, contain pressure, or exclude contamination where two systems join
• variant of English for decal or sticker

Seal may also refer to:

Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel (born 19 February 1963), better known by his stage name Seal, is an English singer and songwriter. He has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and is known for his international hits, including " Kiss from a Rose", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1995 film Batman Forever. He was a coach on The Voice Australia in 2012 and 2013.

Seal has won multiple awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards; he won Best British Male in 1992, as well as four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. As a songwriter, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award, for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, in consecutive years for " Killer" (1990) and " Crazy" (1991).

Seal (sometimes referred to as Seal II to avoid confusion with the 1991 album of the same name) is the second eponymous studio album by singer Seal. The album was released in 1994 on ZTT and Sire Records and features the worldwide smash hit single " Kiss from a Rose".

The image on the cover has since become nearly synonymous with Seal, in that it has appeared on several singles covers and was reused for his greatest hits album.

SEAL may refer to:

• SEAL (cipher), a cryptographic algorithm
• Sea Scout Advanced Leadership (SEAL) Training
• United States Navy SEALs
• In the UK, Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
• Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS)

A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, a wrapper for one such as a modern envelope, or the cover of a container or package holding valuables or other objects.

The seal-making device is also referred to as the seal matrix or die; the imprint it creates as the seal impression (or, more rarely, the sealing). If the impression is made purely as a relief resulting from the greater pressure on the paper where the high parts of the matrix touch, the seal is known as a dry seal; in other cases ink or another liquid or liquefied medium is used, in another color than the paper.

In most traditional forms of dry seal the design on the seal matrix is in intaglio (cut below the flat surface) and therefore the design on the impressions made is in relief (raised above the surface). The design on the impression will reverse (be a mirror-image of) that of the matrix, which is especially important when script is included in the design, as it very often is. This will not be the case if paper is embossed from behind, where the matrix and impression read the same way, and both matrix and impression are in relief. However engraved gems were often carved in relief, called cameo in this context, giving a "counter-relief" or intaglio impression when used as seals. The process is essentially that of a mould.

Most seals have always given a single impression on an essentially flat surface, but in medieval Europe two-sided seals with two matrices were often used by institutions or rulers (such as towns, bishops and kings) to make two-sided or fully three-dimensional impressions in wax, with a "tag", a piece of ribbon or strip of parchment, running through them. These "pendent" seal impressions dangled below the documents they authenticated, to which the attachment tag was sewn or otherwise attached (single-sided seals were treated in the same way).

Some jurisdictions consider rubber stamps or specified signature-accompanying words such as "seal" or "L.S." (abbreviation of locus sigilli, "place of the seal") to be the legal equivalent of, i.e., an equally effective substitute for, a seal.

In the United States, the word "seal" is sometimes assigned to a facsimile of the seal design (in monochrome or color), which may be used in a variety of contexts including architectural settings, on flags, or on official letterheads. Thus, for example, the Great Seal of the United States, among other uses, appears on the reverse of the one-dollar bill; and several of the seals of the U.S. states appear on their respective state flags. In Europe, although coats of arms and heraldic badges may well feature in such contexts as well as on seals, the seal design in its entirety rarely appears as an emblem.

The study of seals is known as sigillography or sphragistics.

In cryptography, SEAL (Software-Optimized Encryption Algorithm) is a very fast stream cipher optimised for machines with a 32- bit word size and plenty of RAM. SEAL is actually a pseudorandom function family in that it can easily generate arbitrary portions of the keystream without having to start from the beginning. This makes it particularly well suited for applications like encrypting hard drives.

The first version was published by Phillip Rogaway and Don Coppersmith in 1994. The current version, published in 1997, is 3.0. SEAL, covered by two patents in the United States, both of which are assigned to IBM.

A mechanical seal is a device that helps join systems or mechanisms together by preventing leakage (e.g. in a plumbing system), containing pressure, or excluding contamination. The effectiveness of a seal is dependent on adhesion in the case of sealants and compression in the case of gaskets.

A stationary seal may also be referred to as 'packing'.

Seal types:

• Induction sealing or cap sealing
• Adhesive, sealant
• Bodok seal, a specialized gas sealing washer for medical applications
• Bonded seal, also known as Dowty seal or Dowty washer. A type of washer with integral gasket, widely used to provide a seal at the entry point of a screw or bolt
• Bridgman seal, a piston sealing mechanism that creates a high pressure reservoir from a lower pressure source
• Bung
• Compression seal fitting
• Diaphragm seal
• Ferrofluidic seal
• Gasket or Mechanical packing
  • Flange gasket
  • O-ring
  • O-ring boss seal
  • Piston ring
• Glass-to-metal seal
• Glass-ceramic-to-metal seals
• Heat seal
• Hose coupling, various types of hose couplings
• Hermetic seal
• Hydrostatic seal
• Hydrodynamic seal
• Inflatable seal Seals that inflate and deflate in three basic directions of operation: the axial direction, the radial-in direction, and the radial-out direction. Each of these inflation directions has their own set of performance parameters for measurements such as the height of inflation and the center-line bend radius that the seal can negotiate. Inflatable seals can be used for numerous applications with difficult sealing issues.
• Labyrinth seal A seal which creates a tortuous path for the liquid to flow through
• Lid (container)
• Rotating face mechanical seal
• Face seal
• Plug
• Radial shaft seal
• Trap (plumbing) (siphon trap)
• Stuffing box (mechanical packing)
• Wiper seal
• Dry gas seal

A seal, in an East Asian context, is a general name for printing stamps and impressions thereof which are used in lieu of signatures in personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, art, or any item requiring acknowledgement or authorship. China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and increasingly, electronic signatures. It is used to a lesser extent in Vietnam by authorised organisations and businesses, and also traditional Vietnamese artists. It was more common in Vietnam prior to French rule, when thereafter the practice of signature became a commonality, although western-like signatures are usually seen as having less authority in a company situation.

Chinese seals are typically made of stone, sometimes of metals, wood, bamboo, plastic, or ivory, and are typically used with red ink or cinnabar paste . The word 印 ("yìn" in Mandarin, "in" in Japanese and Korean, pronounced the same) specifically refers to the imprint created by the seal, as well as appearing in combination with other ideographs in words related to any printing, as in the word "印刷", "printing", pronounced "yìnshuā" in Mandarin, "insatsu" in Japanese. The colloquial name chop, when referring to these kinds of seals, was adapted from the Hindi word chapa and from the Malay word cap meaning stamp or rubber stamps.

Seal is the eponymous debut studio album by Seal, released in 1991. It contains the UK singles " Killer" (originally performed with Adamski), " Crazy", " Future Love Paradise", "The Beginning" and "Violet". The album debuted at #1 in the UK. Seal's following album, released in 1994, was also named Seal it is usually referred to as Seal II.

The song "Crazy" was covered by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their album Take a Break, by Mushroomhead on their album XIII, by Talisman on their 1995 album Life, by Alanis Morissette on her 2005 compilation album Alanis Morissette: The Collection, and by German power metal band Iron Savior.

Many of the songs (including various ZTT mixes) were featured in the Greg Stump 1991 film Groove Requiem in the Key of Ski. Later Seal tracks appeared in other Stump films as well.

The track "Killer" was also featured on the American crime series Homicide: Life on the Streets and was included on the 2-disc soundtrack album.

There are two versions of the album, with minor and major differences in three songs. The shorter version of "Wild" is more rock-based and heavy than the original. The shorter version of "Violet" contains no dialogue within the singing. Track lengths of both versions are given for each song affected.

The album won Best British Album at the 1992 Brit Awards.

In the law, a seal affixed to a contract or other legal instrument has had special legal significance at various times in the jurisdictions that recognise it. In the courts of common law jurisdictions, a contract which was sealed ("made under seal") was treated differently from other written contracts (which were "made under hand"), although this practice gradually fell out of favour in most of these jurisdictions in the 19th and early 20th century. The legal term seal arises from the wax seal used throughout history for authentication (among other purposes).

Originally, only a wax seal was accepted as a seal by the courts, but by the 19th century many jurisdictions had relaxed the definition to include an impression in the paper on which the instrument was printed, an embossed paper wafer affixed to an instrument, a scroll made with a pen, or the printed words "Seal" or "L.S." (standing for the Latin term locus sigilli meaning "place of the seal").

Notwithstanding their reduced significance, seals are still used on contracts, usually in the impression on paper form.