fascinum

fascinum

English

Etymology

From the Latin fascinum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfæsɪnəm/

Noun

fascinum (plural fascina)

1. 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.

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Latin

Alternative forms

• fascinus

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfas.ki.num/, [ˈfäs̠kɪnʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfaʃ.ʃi.num/, [ˈfäʃːinum]

Noun

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

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

• fascinō
• fascinōsus
• praefiscini

Related terms

• fascinātiō
• fascinātor
• fascinātōrius

Descendants

• → English: fascinum
• Italian: fascino
• ⇒ Portuguese: fascínio

References

• “fascinum” on page 743 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Further reading

• “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