fescennine
Mar. 25th, 2011 07:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordfescennine (FES-uh-nayn, FES-uh-nin) - adj., scurrilous, licentious, obscene.
Originally, as Latin Fescennīnus, of or pertaining to the Etruscan town of Fescennia (near Civita Castellana, in modern Lazio), particularly their ribald harvest-festival and wedding songs. The Romans borrowed the custom for, particularly, weddings, and the term eventually became generic for a style of verse (see for ex Catullus 61). English borrowed the word around 1600 for both the verse and as a general term.
---L.
Originally, as Latin Fescennīnus, of or pertaining to the Etruscan town of Fescennia (near Civita Castellana, in modern Lazio), particularly their ribald harvest-festival and wedding songs. The Romans borrowed the custom for, particularly, weddings, and the term eventually became generic for a style of verse (see for ex Catullus 61). English borrowed the word around 1600 for both the verse and as a general term.
---L.
