saturnalia means an Ancient Roman holiday honoring the deity Saturn. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 71 out of 100.
saturnalia is pronounced /ˌsætəˈneɪli.ə/.
Why “saturnalia” is a great word
SATURNALIA — [Noun] A period of unrestrained revelry and licensed inversion of the social order, originating in the ancient Roman festival honoring Saturn. From Latin Sāturnālia, the festival of Saturn (Sāturnus). Unlike a bacchanalia, which denotes a private, frenzied descent into excess, or a mere festival, which implies structured, communal observance, a saturnalia is a publicly sanctioned upheaval. It is the master serving the slave, the sober magistrate staggering in a paper crown, and the solemn law replaced by the rule of dice—a brief, cathartic dream where the world turns upside-down before righting itself, a reminder that order is but a conscious agreement, ever fragile and renewed.
name
- An Ancient Roman holiday honoring the deity Saturn.“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.”
noun
- 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."”