significava

Significava is the imperfect indicative form of the verbs significare in Italian and significar in Portuguese. In both languages it expresses past meaning or ongoing significance, roughly translating as “meant” or “was meaning.” The form is used to describe how something used to signify or indicate something in the past, or to state a general past habit of meaning.

Etymology traces significare/significar to Latin significare, itself from signum “sign, mark” plus -ficare “to make,” yielding the sense “to indicate, to signify.” The word has cognates in several Romance languages and is related to the English signify.

In Italian, significava is used to describe a past, ongoing meaning or a habitual implication. For example: Questo simbolo significava molto per la comunità. Significava che le mie ragioni erano state ascoltate. The imperfect contrasts with significò (passato remoto) or with ha significato in spoken contexts when a definite past meaning is intended.

In Portuguese, significava functions similarly as the imperfect form of significar. Examples include: O que ele disse significava que não havia mais dúvidas. Essa mudança significava uma nova fase para a empresa. Here, the imperfect conveys a sense of ongoing or habitual meaning in the past, as opposed to significou, the simple past with a completed sense.

See also: significato, significado, significar/significare, etymology of significare.