assina

Assina is a term primarily encountered in Portuguese, where it functions as a verb form of the verb assinar, meaning to sign. In standard grammar, assina is the third-person singular present indicative form of assinar, as in Ele assina o contrato (He signs the contract) or Você assina o contrato (You sign the contract). The form is used with third-person subjects and with the pronoun você in many dialects, where the verb is conjugated as if for ele/ela.

Etymology and related forms: Assinar comes from the Latin signare, meaning to mark or sign, through a medieval and evolving development in the Iberian Romance languages. The Portuguese word retains a clear link to the concept of making a signature or mark.

Other uses and naming: Outside of its grammatical role, assina may appear sporadically as a personal surname or as a place-name in certain regions, but such uses are uncommon and not widely documented in major reference sources. When encountered as a proper noun, it typically requires local context to determine its origin and meaning.

See also: Assinar, the related verb; assinatura, meaning signature; assinante, meaning subscriber. The term is mostly of interest in linguistic contexts related to Portuguese conjugation and verb formation, as well as in discussions of onomastics where it may appear as a surname or toponym.