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Fibula

Jewellery
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An ancient brooch or pin used to fasten clothing. It was often made from bronze, silver, or gold.

Detailed Definition
A fibula is an ancient fastening pin, especially associated with Roman, Greek, and early European dress. Though practical in origin, many fibulae were richly shaped and decorated, making them both tools and ornaments. In poetry, an excavated fibula can connect a modern speaker to a vanished body, cloak, battlefield, or grave. Its pinning action may symbolize memory holding together fragments that time has otherwise scattered.
Example
Example in poetry:
The bronze fibula fastened the soldier's cloak against the mountain wind; A fibula can connect a poem to ancient Roman, Celtic, or archaeological settings; In an excavation poem, a greened fibula is a small surviving witness to a lost life; The speaker calls memory a fibula because it pins scattered years together
Additional Notes
A fibula is both ornament and fastening. In historical verse, it may connect clothing, ancient life, and the idea of holding something together.
Also Known As
Brooch Clasp
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