significare Italian · revision 37654

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=12th century, Sermone gallo-italico}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /siɲ.ɲi.fiˈka.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''significare''' (first-person singular present signìfico, first-person singular past historic significài, past participle significàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is [[roa-oit|segnificare]].^(GDLI|18, 1092)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|significō|t=to make a sign, indicate; to mean|alt=significāre]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|18, 1092) The Latin verb is a compound of [[m|la|signum|t=sign]], Italian [[segno]], and the verb-forming [[m|la|-ficō]], which comes from [[m|la|faciō|t=to make]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto 1968|407) [[fr|signifier]] and [[es|significar]] are learned in the same way.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the 12th-century ''Sermone gallo-italico'', with the sense “to express by words or signs”: “Lo suber significa l'arma qui est faita de lef materia” (the cork signifies the soul, which is made of light matter).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 1092) Bono Giamboni has it before 1292, and Nocentini dates it to the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses it for expressing in words, in a line of the ''Paradiso'' that GRADIT quotes: “Trasumanar significar per verba / non si poria” (to pass beyond the human could not be put into words).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The sense “to mean”, of words and phrases, is recorded before 1565 in Benedetto Varchi, and “to matter, be important” in the Zingarelli dictionary of 1922.^(DELI 1999) In the older language it also meant “to announce, let know” (14th century, Giovanni Villani) and “to foretell”, uses that survive only in formal or literary writing.^(DEI|3493)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Derivatives include ''significazione'' (about 1224, Saint Francis), ''significato'' “meaning” (1353, Boccaccio), ''significativo'' (14th century) and ''insignificante'' (18th century). In 1960 ''significante'' and ''significato'' became the linguist's terms for the two sides of the sign.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – The ''Sermone gallo-italico'' uses ''significa''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1224 – Saint Francis uses ''significatione''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses ''significato'' “meaning”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1565 – Varchi uses ''significare'' “to mean” of words.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1922 – The Zingarelli dictionary records it for “to matter”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|mean]], of a word, phrase or sign: ''In dialetto, «mo» significa «adesso».''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To be a sign of, to indicate; to [[m|en|symbolize]]: ''Il semaforo giallo significa prudenza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To imply, to [[m|en|entail]]: ''Accettare quel lavoro significherebbe trasferirsi a Milano.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To [[m|en|matter]], to have value or importance for someone: ''Quella lettera significava tutto per lei.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary)'' To express in words; to make known, to communicate formally.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[significato]]

+ * [[significante]]

+ * [[significativo]]

+ * [[significazione]]

+ * [[insignificante]]

+ * [[significanza]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[segno]]

+ * [[la|signum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The present is stressed on the second syllable: ''signìfico'', ''signìfichi''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In everyday Italian ''voler dire'' is a common synonym.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}