flabellum
Americannoun
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flabella
plural
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a fan, especially one used in religious ceremonies.
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a fan-shaped part.
noun
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a fan-shaped organ or part, such as the tip of the proboscis of a honeybee
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RC Church a large ceremonial fan
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of flabellum
1865–70; < Latin flābellum fan, diminutive of flābra breezes, equivalent to flā ( re ) to blow 2 + -bra, plural of -brum noun suffix of means; see castellum for formation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fl, The flabellum which becomes the epipodite of higher forms.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various
In some instances it is depicted as a flabellum, a fan of palm-leaves or coloured feathers fixed on a long handle, resembling those now carried behind the Pope in processions.
From Umbrellas and Their History by William Sangster
Page 288 Ivory handles were usual for the fly-fan, or flabellum, used at the altar, to keep flies and other insects away from the Elements.
From Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages A Description of Mediaeval Workmanship in Several of the Departments of Applied Art, Together with Some Account of Special Artisans in the Early Renaissance by Julia de Wolf Gibbs Addison
Ventilabrum and flabellum are names under which ecclesiastical fans are mentioned in old inventories.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various
The flabellum is used, though now rarely made of precious metal.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 3 "Convention" to "Copyright" by Various
Prelates held a damask canopy over the Holy Father's head and stirred the warm air about him with ostrich-plumed flabella.
From Time Magazine Archive
The two enormous, semicircular flabella or ostrich fans were also omitted.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
