Saturnalia
Americannoun
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Saturnalia,
plural
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Saturnalias
plural
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(sometimes used with a plural verb) the festival of Saturn, celebrated in December in ancient Rome as a time of unrestrained merrymaking.
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(lowercase) unrestrained revelry; orgy.
noun
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an ancient Roman festival celebrated in December: renowned for its general merrymaking
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(sometimes not capital) a period or occasion of wild revelry
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Saturnalia
1585–95; < Latin Sāturnālia, equivalent to Sāturn ( us ) Saturn + -ālia, neuter plural of -ālis -al 1
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:
We threw strange parties: a garden party with a “make your own hat” bar, a dinner party full of spontaneous performance art and a birthday party called Lord Pontchartrain’s Cosmic Saturnalia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
Ancient Romans celebrated the winter solstice with Saturnalia, a seven-day festival that involved giving presents, decorating houses with plants, and lighting candles.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 19, 2023
"Chester is a Roman city and Saturnalia offers the opportunity to combine the modern-day Christmas celebrations with an acknowledgement to our Roman history," she said.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2023
A Roman gift guide for the celebration of Saturnalia by the first-century poet Martial included several texts on parchment, including works by Virgil and Cicero and Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2022
In memory of the Golden Age, when he reigned in Italy, the great feast of the Saturnalia was held every year during the winter.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Such Saturnalias are not uncommon at some stages of social evolution.
From The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
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.
