Definition

1. Verb:
   • To sign a document jointly with another person, thereby endorsing it and assuming shared responsibility: The primary meaning is to add one's signature to a document that another person has also signed, typically to guarantee a loan or lease.
   • To endorse or support something publicly: In a more figurative sense, it can mean to give public approval or support to an idea, statement, or action.

Usage Examples

• Verb (literal, financial/legal):
  • The bank required a parent to cosign the student loan.
  • Because her credit was poor, her brother agreed to cosign the car loan.
• Verb (figurative, endorsement):
  • The celebrity cosigned the new environmental campaign on social media.
  • I can't cosign that plan; I think it's too risky.

Advanced Usage

• "to cosign for someone": To act as a cosigner on behalf of another person.
  • He asked his uncle to cosign for him when he applied for his first credit card.
• The act of cosigning makes the cosigner legally obligated if the primary signer fails to meet the terms (e.g., defaults on a loan).

Variants and Related Words

• Cosigner (noun): A person who signs a document jointly with another, sharing the responsibility.
  • The cosigner is equally liable for the debt.
• Cosignature (noun): A signature added jointly with another; the act of cosigning.
  • The contract required a cosignature from a guarantor.

Synonyms

• Co-endorse: To endorse jointly.
• Guarantee: To provide a formal assurance, often involving financial responsibility.
• Countersign: To sign a document already signed by another (often in official contexts, but not always implying shared liability).

Related Phrases

• To put one's name to something: To sign or endorse something, accepting responsibility.
• To back someone/something: To support someone or something, often financially or with one's reputation.

Verb

1. sign and endorse (another person's signature), as for a loan
2. sign jointly
   • Husband and wife co-signed the lease