Lupercalia

American  

[loo-per-key-lee-uh, ‑-keyl-yuh] / ˌlu pərˈkeɪ li ə, ‑ˈkeɪl yə /

noun

plural

Lupercalia, Lupercalias

1. a festival held in ancient Rome on the 15th of February to promote fertility and ward off disasters.

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Lupercalia British  

/ ˌluːpɜːˈkeɪlɪə /

noun

1. an ancient Roman festival of fertility, celebrated annually on Feb 15 See also Saint Valentine's Day

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Other Word Forms

• Lupercalian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Lupercalia

Latin, from Lupercālis belonging to Lupercus, a Roman god of the flocks

Example Sentences

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

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

Given the thousand-year gap between Lupercalia and the imaginary avian assembly, it seems unlikely the two were related.

From Washington Post • Feb. 8, 2019

At the festival of the Lupercalia, as he sat looking on at the sports in a gilded chair and clad in a triumphal robe, Antony offered him a crown wreathed with bay leaves.

From Roman life in the days of Cicero by Church, Alfred John