Word.ws English Dictionary

fascinum

/ˈfæsɪnəm/

fascinum noun: an ivory phallus used in certain ancient erotic rites.

Noun

fascinum (plural fascina)

  1. (historical) An ivory phallus used in certain ancient erotic rites.
    • Here are some brides of ten compelled to seat themselves on the fascinum, the virile ivory in the temples of classical scholarship.1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
    • 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.1988, Leonard R. N. Ashley, The Amazing World of Superstition, Prophecy, Luck, Magic & Witchcraft, Random House Value Publishing, →ISBN, page 107, →ISBN

Forms of fascinum

pluralfascina

Origin of fascinum

From the Latin fascinum.

Questions about fascinum

What does fascinum mean?
Fascinum means an ivory phallus used in certain ancient erotic rites.
What part of speech is fascinum?
Fascinum is a noun.
How do you pronounce fascinum?
Fascinum is pronounced /ˈfæsɪnəm/.
What is the plural of fascinum?
The plural of fascinum is fascina.

Words near fascinum in the dictionary

  1. fascining
  2. fascinoma
  3. fascinomas
  4. fascinous
  5. fascins
  6. fascinum
  7. fascinums
  8. fascio
  9. fascio-
  10. fasciocidal
  11. fasciocutaneous

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fascinum (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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