computabat

Computabat is a Latin verb form meaning "he was computing" or "he used to compute." It is the third-person singular imperfect active indicative of computare, a first-conjugation verb meaning to compute or calculate. In Latin, the imperfect tense expresses ongoing or repeated action in the past.

Etymology and morphology: The form is built from the present stem comput- plus the thematic vowel a and the imperfect ending -bat. The imperfect active endings for the first conjugation include -bam, -bas, -bat, -bamus, -batis, -bant, with computabat occupying the 3rd person singular slot. The form thus signals imperfect aspect rather than a completed event.

Usage: Computabat appears in classical Latin texts to describe ongoing calculation in narratives or descriptions, often with direct objects such as numeros or tabula. Example: Marcus numeros computabat. Translation: Marcus was counting the numbers.

Related forms: Related imperfect forms include computabam (I was computing), computabas (you were computing), computabat (he/she/it was computing), computabamus, computabatis, computabant. The corresponding perfect form computavit denotes a completed calculation: "he computed."

Significance: As a common example of imperfective aspect in Latin, computabat is used in language instruction and linguistic analysis to illustrate tense, aspect, and verb conjugation patterns. It also serves as a test case in computational linguistics and Latin corpora for morphological parsing.

See also: Latin verb conjugation, imperfect tense, computare.