fascinum

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From the Latin fascinum.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

fascinum (plural fascina)

  1. (historical, occult) An ivory phallus used in certain ancient erotic rites.
    • 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita:
      Here are some brides of ten compelled to seat themselves on the fascinum, the virile ivory in the temples of classical scholarship.
    • 1988, Leonard R. N. Ashley, The Amazing World of Superstition, Prophecy, Luck, Magic & Witchcraft, Random House Value Publishing, →ISBN, page 107, →ISBN:
      Today people use a four-leaf clover, the pompom from a European sailor’s hat, the fascinum (winged phallus, some of which were found in the ruins of Pompeii and seemed to have done little good there), and so on.

Latin

[edit]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

Unknown; compare Ancient Greek βάσκανος (báskanos, sorcerer, slanderer, adjective and noun), possibly from the same European substrate language.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

fascinum n (genitive fascinī); second declension

  1. (originally) a charm, spell, witchcraft
  2. (by extension) a phallus-shaped amulet worn around the neck as a preventive against witchcraft
    1. a penis, phallus, especially that of a human
    2. an artificial phallus, dildo
      • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 138:
        Prōfert Oenothea scorteum fascinum, quod ut oleō et minūtō pipere atque ū̆rtīcae trītō circumdedit sēmine []
        Then Oenothea takes out a leather dildo and, having covered it in oil, pepper and ground nettle seeds []
    3. a kind of seashell

Declension

[edit]

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative fascinum fascina
Genitive fascinī fascinōrum
Dative fascinō fascinīs
Accusative fascinum fascina
Ablative fascinō fascinīs
Vocative fascinum fascina

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Descendants

[edit]
  • English: fascinum
  • Italian: fascino
  • Portuguese: fascínio

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
  • fascinum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • fascinum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • fascinum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • fascinum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • fascinum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin