Sĭg'nĭ-fĭ-cā'vĭt, n.

n. [Lat., perf. ind. of significare, to signify.] (Eng. Eccl. Law.) A writ issuing out of chancery, upon certificate given by the ordinary, of a man's standing excommunicate by the space of forty days, for the laying him up in prison till he submit himself to the authority of the church. Crabb.