fasces

[ fas-eez ]

noun(usually used with a singular verb)

a bundle of rods containing an ax with the blade projecting, borne before Roman magistrates as an emblem of official power.

Origin of fasces

1590–1600; <Latin, plural of fascis bundle, pack

Words Nearby fasces

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fasces in a sentence

Wilt thou see also the Tarquin kings, and the haughty soul of Brutus the Avenger, and the fasces regained?
The Aeneid of Virgil | Virgil
The Roman consuls were accustomed to use a certain badge of authority called the fasces.
History of Julius Caesar | Jacob Abbott
Those were the days when fasces were carried abroad in public ftes, as emblems of liberty,—fasces!
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 63, No. 392, June, 1848 | Various
This morning he appointed me regent head of the house, and delivered me the fasces and curule chair.
Translations from the German (Vol 3 of 3) | Thomas Carlyle
The decemvir's lictor attacks Valerius and Horatius: the fasces are broken by the people.
The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 | Titus Livius

British Dictionary definitions for fasces

fasces

/ (ˈfæsiːz) /

pl nsingular -cis (-sɪs)

(in ancient Rome) one or more bundles of rods containing an axe with its blade protruding; a symbol of a magistrate's power
(in modern Italy) such an object used as the symbol of Fascism

Origin of fasces

C16: from Latin, plural of fascis bundle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse