Brill’s New Pauly

Get access
Search Results: | 4 of 35 |

Fas
(296 words)

[German version]

is to be understood as ‘that which is divinely sanctioned’; its opposite is nefas. The adjective fastus is derived from it. Fas and nefas appear at first with verbs (e.g. fas est), later also as nouns in expressions such as contra fas. The derivation is disputed: 1. from *fēs-/ *fas<*dh(e)h1s- as festus, feriae, fanum; 2. from *<*bheh2 - as fari, fama, fabula, fatum [1]. The relationship between fari and the adj. fastus was already recognised by Varro (Ling. 6, 29-30; 53). According to [2] fari indicates the existence of the utterance removed from the speaker a…

Cite this page
Prescendi, Francesca (Geneva), “Fas”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e410100>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



▲   Back to top   ▲