confarreation

[ kon-far-ee-ey-shuhn ]

noun

1. (among the ancient Romans) a form of marriage ceremony, limited to patricians and obligatory for holders of certain ritual offices, marked by the offering of a cake.

Other Words From

• con·far·re·ate [k, uh, n-, far, -ee-it, -eyt], con·farre·ated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confarreation¹

1590–1600; < Latin confarreātiōn- (stem of confarreātiō ) equivalent to confarreā ( re ) to contract such a marriage ( con- con- + -farreāre, verbal derivative of farreum cake made of emmer, derivative of far emmer; barley ¹ ) + -tiōn- -tion

Example Sentences

Confarreation, kon-far-re-ā′shun, n. a Roman mode of marriage, made in the presence of the high-priest and ten witnesses, at which bread made of spelt was eaten together.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

By the religious marriage or Confarreation; by the higher form of civil marriage, which was called Coemption; and by the lower form, which was termed Usus, the Husband acquired a number of rights over the person and property of his wife, which were on the whole in excess of such as are conferred on him in any system of modern jurisprudence.

From Project Gutenberg

By the Confarreation, Coemption, and Usus, the woman passed in manum viri, that is, in law she became the Daughter of her husband.

From Project Gutenberg

A sacrifice of fruits was offered by the pontiffs in the presence of ten witnesses; the contracting parties were seated on the same sheepskin; they tasted a salt-cake of far or rice; and this confarreation, which denoted the ancient food of Italy, served as an emblem of their mystic union of mind and body.

From Project Gutenberg

The causes of the dissolution of matrimony have varied among the Romans; but the most solemn sacrament, the confarreation itself, might always be done away by rites of a contrary tendency.

From Project Gutenberg