Unsigned

In law, finance, and digital contexts, 'unsigned' denotes a lack of endorsement, agreement, or official validation. It signifies that a document, contract, or data element hasn't been formally approved, signed, or certified by the necessary parties. This often implies that the content lacks legal force, authenticity, or that it may be subject to manipulation. The term also applies when referring to numerical data in computer science, specifying that the data is interpreted solely as a positive value, without a sign bit indicating negative values.

Unsigned meaning with examples

• The contract remained unsigned due to a disagreement over the terms of payment. Legal counsel advised that it held no weight in a court of law because it lacked the necessary signatures of both parties. The lack of the company's representative's signature meant the agreement was considered to be non-binding, until they were willing to sign and accept all terms.
• The whistleblower report was submitted with an unsigned cover letter, but its content caused an immediate internal investigation. Even without an official endorsement, the anonymous claim sparked concern because it detailed alleged misconduct and prompted an inquiry into the company's financial dealings. Investigators sought to verify the information provided.
• In order to publish his article to his university's newspaper he had to sign the digital document with a registered key, otherwise the published document would remain unsigned. The newspaper only allows for signed content to be published on their domain. An unsigned article would fail the criteria.
• The developer used an unsigned integer in the database column to store customer account numbers, allowing for a larger range of possible values. This choice prevents any negative values, optimising storage because it excludes the potential requirement of sign bits, and increases the overall numerical capacity.