Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A priest, especially of an ancient Roman deity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Roman antiquity, a priest devoted to the service of one particular deity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Rom. Antiq.) A priest devoted to the service of a particular god, from whom he received a distinguishing epithet. The most honored were those of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus, called respectively Flamen Dialis, Flamen Martialis, and Flamen Quirinalis.

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

  • noun A priest devoted to the service of a particular god, from whom he received a distinguishing epithet. The most honored were those of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus, called respectively Flamen Dialis, Flamen Martialis, and Flamen Quirinalis.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a priest who served a particular deity in ancient Rome

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English flamin, from Latin flāmen.]

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Examples

  • So deh ballrogg iz gonna takem down wit him. he lashez hiz flamen whip round gandalfcatz anklez 2 drag him down to see basement catz hous. gandalfcatz last words afor fallen down da big hole iz fly you foolz! and the hobbitzez all cry.

    Fly u foolz!! - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008

  • He and his wife were shackled with taboos, particularly the flamen and flaminica Dialis; he was forbidden to see death, touch iron, have knots or buckles on his person, and much more.

    Antony and Cleopatra Colleen McCullough 2007

  • The flamen wore a circular, poncholike cape, the laena, and the apex, a close-fitting ivory helmet surmounted by a spike on which was impaled a disc of wool.

    Antony and Cleopatra Colleen McCullough 2007

  • The flamen wore a circular, poncholike cape, the laena, and the apex, a close-fitting ivory helmet surmounted by a spike on which was impaled a disc of wool.

    Antony and Cleopatra Colleen McCullough 2007

  • He and his wife were shackled with taboos, particularly the flamen and flaminica Dialis; he was forbidden to see death, touch iron, have knots or buckles on his person, and much more.

    Antony and Cleopatra Colleen McCullough 2007

  • But be the alleance of iern on his flamen vestacoat, the fibule of brooch-bronze to his wintermantle of pointefox.

    Finnegans Wake 2006

  • In India, this duality is in the roles of the rajan and brahman; in Rome, of rex and flamen.

    Indic Ideas in the Graeco-Roman World Tusar N Mohapatra 2005

  • In India, this duality is in the roles of the rajan and brahman; in Rome, of rex and flamen.

    Archive 2005-10-01 Tusar N Mohapatra 2005

  • And therefore the archflamen or the flamen, as our archbishop or bishop, when he receiveth them saith thus: LA ELLEC

    The Travels of Sir John Mandeville 2004

  • Another reason for my disquiet concerns my own ancestors, for the first Cornelius to be cognominated Sulla was flamen Dialis.

    Fortune's Favorites McCullough, Colleen, 1937- 1993

Comments

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  • "...stalls, bulks, windows,

    Are smother'd up, leads fill'd and ridges hors'd

    With variable complexions; all agreeing

    In earnestness to see him: seld-shown flamens

    Do press among the popular throngs, and puff

    To win a vulgar station..."

    - William Shakespeare, 'The Tragedy of Coriolanus'.

    August 28, 2009

  • a priest(ly) of a different god(ly)ness!

    uncertainly certain

    April 28, 2011