Crossword clues for fescennine
fescennine
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fescennine \Fes"cen*nine\, a. [L. Fescenninus, fr. Fescennia, a city of Etruria.] Pertaining to, or resembling, the Fescennines. -- n. A style of low, scurrilous, obscene poetry originating in fescennia.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"vulgar, obscene, scurrilous," from Latin Fescenninus (versus), a rude form of dramatic or satiric verse, from Fescennia, city in Etruria, noted for such productions.\n\nThe Fescennine Songs were the origin of the Satire, the only important species of literature not derived from the Greeks, and altogether peculiar to Italy. These Fescennine Songs were rude dialogues, in which the country people assailed and ridiculed one another in extempore verses, and which were introduced as an amusement in various festivals.
[William Smith, "A Smaller History of Rome," London, 1870]
Wiktionary
a. obscene or scurrilous.
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "fescennine".
These Fescennine Songs were rude dialogues, in which the country people assailed and ridiculed one another in extempore verses, and which were introduced as an amusement in various festivals.
Tuscan vocabulary, was the name of an actor, who did not, as formerly, throw out alternately artless and unpolished verses like the Fescennine at random, but represented medleys complete with metre, the music being regularly adjusted for the musician, and with appropriate gesticulation.