De significatu verborum

work by Verrius Flaccus

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June 25, 2026

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De significatu verborum was a significant lexicon written by Marcus Verrius Flaccus, a Roman scholar and grammarian who lived in the 1st century BCE. This work is considered the first of its kind and was a rich source of antiquarian knowledge, extensively quoting Latin authors. Although Flaccus's original work is lost, its value is preserved through an abridgment made by Sextus Pompeius Festus in the 2nd or 3rd century CE, and further condensed by Paul the Deacon in the 8th century. Festus's abridgment is crucial for understanding Flaccus's extensive lexicon, which provided definitions and etymologies for many Latin words.12

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Sextus Pompeius Festus
…alphabetically, of Marcus Verrius Flaccus’ De significatu verborum (“On the Meaning of Words”), a work that is otherwise lost. A storehouse of antiquarian learning, it preserves by quotation the work of other authors that has not survived elsewhere. The first half of Festus’ work, too, is lost, but a further…
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…alphabetically, of Marcus Verrius Flaccus’ De significatu verborum (“On the Meaning of Words”), a work that is otherwise lost. A storehouse of antiquarian learning, it preserves by quotation the work of other authors that has not survived elsewhere. The first half of Festus’ work, too, is lost, but a further…
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Marcus Verrius Flaccus
…that was much used was De significatu verborum (“On the Meaning of Words”), a large lexicon that was the first of its kind and that was, moreover, a storehouse of antiquarian learning, in which Latin authors were quoted extensively. Some idea of its value is obtainable from what remains of…
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…that was much used was De significatu verborum (“On the Meaning of Words”), a large lexicon that was the first of its kind and that was, moreover, a storehouse of antiquarian learning, in which Latin authors were quoted extensively. Some idea of its value is obtainable from what remains of…
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