facetiae

American  

[fuh-see-shee-ee] / fəˈsi ʃiˌi /

plural noun

1. amusing or witty remarks or writings.

2. Older Use. pornographic books or other writings.

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facetiae British  

/ fəˈsiːʃɪˌiː /

plural noun

1. humorous or witty sayings

2. obscene or coarsely witty books

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Etymology

Origin of facetiae

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin, plural of facētia “something witty, a joke”; see facete, -ia

Example Sentences

It meant being chaffed and gibed at in language of which he only understood that it was cruel, though certain trite facetiae grew intelligible to him by repetition.

From Children of the Ghetto A Study of a Peculiar People by Zangwill, Israel

Both facetiae and lepos mean "agreeableness, humor, pleasantry," but lepos here seems to refer to diction, as in Cic.

From Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War by Watson, John Selby

Much of Thomas Warton's poetry, such as his facetiae in the "Oxford Sausage" and his "Triumph of Isis," had an academic flavor.

From A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century by Beers, Henry A. (Henry Augustin)

It is true, the methods were not many, being limited chiefly to that form of popular facetiae known as practical joking; and even this had assumed the seriousness of a business-pursuit.

From Tales of the Argonauts by Harte, Bret

Fancy a party in a country-house now looking over Woodward's facetiae or some of the Gilray comicalities, or the slatternly Saturnalia of Rowlandson!

From John Leech's Pictures of Life and Character by Thackeray, William Makepeace