Saturnalia
name, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative letter-case form of saturnalia. alt-of
"It was odd that the literary festival should be turned into a Donnybrook fair, but so it was when I was a boy, and the tents and the shows and the crowds on the Common were to the promiscuous many the essential parts of the great occasion. They had been so for generations, and it was only gradually that the Cambridge Saturnalia were replaced by the decencies and solemnities of the present sober anniversary."
- 2 A period or occasion of general license, in which the passions or vices have riotous indulgence; a period of unrestrained revelry.
"a man who mounts the Hustings, must not allow himself to be sore-boned, or he invites his opponents to 'touch him on the raw,' not in the exercise of their malice, but their power; an election is a saturnalia.""
- 3 a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity wordnet
- 4 an orgiastic festival in ancient Rome in honor of Saturn wordnet
- 1 An Ancient Roman holiday honoring the deity Saturn. historical
"Saturn was an ancient Italian deity. It was attempted to identify him with the Grecian god Cronos, and fabled that after his dethronement by Jupiter he fled to Italy, where he reigned during what was called the Golden Age. In memory of his beneficent dominion, the feast of Saturnalia was held every year in the winter season."
Example
More examples"This holiday was called Saturnalia among the Romans and was marked by great merriment and licence which extended even to the slaves."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin Sāturnālia.
From Saturnalia (“a festival of the winter solstice”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.