Lupercalia
Americannoun
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Lupercalia,
plural
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Lupercalias
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Lupercalia
Latin, from Lupercālis belonging to Lupercus, a Roman god of the flocks
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.
Historians believe that Valentine's Day is rooted in the Roman love and fertility festival, Lupercalia, and was a move by Gelasius I to Christianise pagan traditions.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2025
Some believe that Valentine’s Day is an offshoot from the ancient festival of Lupercalia, a raucous Roman fertility rite held in the middle of February.
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
She explained that Lupercalia was celebrated in Rome between February 13–15 to stave off evil and celebrate fertility.
From Fox News ● Feb. 14, 2020
The holiday itself dates back many centuries before then; it is apparently another pagan holiday that Christians attempted to co-opt, by transforming the Roman fertility celebration Lupercalia into St. Valentine’s Day.
From Slate ● Feb. 14, 2019
The action in the preceding scene took place on the day of the Lupercalia; the action in this is on the eve of the Ides of March.
From The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar by Ebenezer Charlton Black
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.
