antigas

Antigas is the feminine plural form of antigo, a Portuguese adjective meaning old or ancient. In everyday usage it describes nouns that belong to the past or have existed for a long time, such as tradições antigas, objetos antigos, or cidades antigas. The masculine plural form is antigos, used with masculine nouns.

Etymology and grammar: antigo and antiga derive from Latin antiquus, meaning ancient or former. In Portuguese, the adjective agrees with the gender and number of the noun it modifies, so antigos (masculine), antiga (feminine singular), antigas (feminine plural), and antigos (masculine plural) are common forms. The term is primarily descriptive and not a standalone noun.

Usage: Antigas is commonly employed to denote historical or long-standing qualities. It appears in phrases like costumes antigos, ruínas antigas, or tradições antigas, signaling a sense of age or historic significance. It can also be used in a broader sense to refer to past eras in literature, archaeology, or cultural discussions.

Cultural and regional notes: While mostly straightforward as an adjective, some regional or informal usages may treat antigas as a referent to elderly women or “the old ones” in a familial or community context; such uses are context-dependent and can be considered informal or sensitive in some settings. The standard meaning remains descriptive rather than a fixed social category.

See also: antiquity, old, ancient, antique.

In summary, antigas is the grammatically appropriate feminine plural form of a common Portuguese adjective, used to describe things that originate from or belong to the distant past.