Etymologically
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festum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfeːs.tũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛs.tum][1]

Forms

fēstum n (genitive fēstī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of fēstus “festive”, used as a noun.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ovid, whom he dates 43 BC–18 AD, and Gaffiot cites Ovid's Fasti.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a festival, feast day, holiday, often plural for singular, as in Ovid and Pliny the Elder.[2][4] Döderlein explains that sollemnia are festivals as regularly returning institutions, fēriae as days of rest, and fēsta as days of rejoicing.[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a feast, festival, as in the Itala's fēsta celebrēmus “let us keep the feast”.[6][7] Köbler records German Fest as its descendant.[3] Old French festival “suitable for a feast”, from the adjective, gave English festival.[8]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a festival.[4][3]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it.[4][3]
  • 1580s – English festival (noun) is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A festival, feast day, holiday.[2]

Word family

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from sollemnia and fēriae.[5] A different British Medieval Latin festum, from Old French, meant a ridgepole.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press