"Sign up" vs. "signup"

Question

When we have a button on a website for creating an account, should it say "sign up" or "signup"?

I see "sign up" in most places, but which is the correct one?

I have never seen 'signup'; could you provide a link to a place where it appears? — user19148, Jun 20, 2012 at 20:31

Daniel · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-20 20:31:06Z

74

It should be sign up, as that is the verb form (see definition 30). Signup (or sign-up) is a noun.

That pattern usually holds: log in (verb) vs. login (noun), sit up (verb) vs. situp (noun), etc.

answered Jun 20, 2012 at 20:31

Daniel

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3

Sounds legit :)
– Haralan Dobrev
Jun 20, 2012 at 20:31
31

or maybe leg it :D
– Lipis
Jan 31, 2014 at 17:30
1

@Lipis :D Nice try :)
– Haralan Dobrev
Jan 31, 2014 at 22:31
3

@Lipis just created an account only to give you an upvote lol
– mario.schlipf
Oct 22, 2015 at 7:31
4

Another illustrative example is "Checkout", meaning "proceed to the CHECKOUT screen" or "initiate a process called CHECKOUT". "Checkout" is fine by itself, but wrong if next to a button that offers the alternative "Continue Shopping". In that case, for consistency, the button should say "Check Out" (or{Go|Proceed} to Checkout).
– Brian Hitchcock
Oct 1, 2017 at 19:38

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