"Sign in", "signin" or "sign-in"

Question

Which is correct: sign in, signin or sign-in when used as a noun and also as a verb?

See also http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/5302/log-in-to-or-log-into-or-login-to — Hugo, Nov 28 '11 at 11:55

score 43 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 28 '11 at 11:56

43

The verb is sign in.

The noun is sign-in.

The noun is better with the hyphen, because signin could be confused with an abbreviated signing that's lost its apostrophe.

Alternatively you could use the more common log in for the verb, and login for the noun.

answered Nov 28 '11 at 11:56

Hugo

1

I find it interesting that "to log in" is commonly used with computers, but almost never with log books. – L2G Nov 29 '11 at 07:31
2

The other bit I recently learned is that the in in sign in should not combine with the preposition to. So you would sign in to the website, not sign into the website. – Adrian McCarthy May 31 '13 at 18:23

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 28 '11 at 11:57

6

The correct version of the verb is sign in. Alternatively, you can use log in.

answered Nov 28 '11 at 11:57

2 Answers2