Messalina

[mes-uh-lahy-nuh]

noun

Valeria,died a.d. 48, third wife of Claudius I.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for messalina

Historical Examples of messalina

Its277 history is connected with one of the worst crimes of Messalina.
Pagan and Christian Rome
Rodolfo Lanciani
Chapuys calls Anne a Messalina, but he of course was not an impartial witness.
Henry VIII.
A. F. Pollard
One might have been a tragedy, "Messalina," but there were no other dramatic works.
Customs and Fashions in Old New England
Alice Morse Earle
Arthur Dillon could not have been more considerate of Messalina.
The Art of Disappearing
John Talbot Smith
Messalina has her divorce from Horace Endicott, and is married to her lover.
The Art of Disappearing
John Talbot Smith

British Dictionary definitions for messalina

Messalina

noun

Valeria (vəˈlɪərɪə). died 48 ad, wife of the Roman emperor Claudius, notorious for her debauchery and cruelty

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

Word Origin and History for messalina

Messalina

"scheming and licentious woman," 1887, in reference to Valeria Messalina, notorious third wife of Roman emperor Claudius.