significatus

Significatus is a Latin adjective and participle derived from significare, meaning “having been signified,” “signified,” or “marked.” In Latin grammar it functions as a perfect passive participle, agreeing in gender and number with the noun it modifies (significatus for masculine singular, significata feminine, significatum neuter). As a form in classical or medieval Latin texts, it often appears in phrases that translate or express the idea of something that has been indicated or made known by a sign.

In modern linguistic and semiotic discourse, significatus does not constitute a standardized technical term. The field’s widely used labels for the corresponding concepts are the English “signified” or the Latin-sounding but more common Latin-derived form significatum in scholarly Latin, depending on the author’s conventions. When Latin is employed to discuss semiotic theory, significatus may appear as a gloss or a quoted form for “the thing signified,” though its usage is sporadic and context-dependent rather than canonical.

Etymology and usage notes help clarify its place in scholarship. The word combines significare (“to signify”) with the participial ending -atus, which yields a sense of completion or result—“having been signified.” Because Latin provides diverse ways to render theoretical notions, significatus is typically encountered only in philological or translational contexts rather than as a standard label in contemporary semiotics.

See also: sign, signifier, signified, semiotics, Saussure, Latin terminology.