Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Significavit \Sig`ni*fi*ca"vit\, n. [L., (he) has signified,
   perf. ind. of significare to signify.] (Eng. Eccl. Law)
   Formerly, 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.