Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An ivory phallus used in certain ancient erotic rites.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Latin fascinum.

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Examples

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  • fascination,enchantment. The belief that some persons had the power of injuring others by their looks among the Greeks and Romans,as it is in modern times.(The evil eye)

    The fascinum was an amulet in the form of a phallus which was hung around the necks of children. The evil eye was supposed to injure children particularly.

    William Smith,D.C.L.,LLD, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray,London, 1875

    Not in OED

    Nabokov,Lolita p 21

    November 12, 2007

  • fascination,enchantment. The belief that some persons had the power of injuring others by their looks among the Greeks and Romans,as it is in modern times.(The evil eye)

    The fascinum was an amulet in the form of a phallus which was hung around the necks of children. The evil eye was supposed to injure children particularly.

    William Smith,D.C.L.,LLD, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray,London, 1875

    Not in OED

    Nabokov,Lolita p 21

    July 12, 2009