festīvĭtas — Lewis & Short
festīvĭtas, ātis, f.festivus,
I festive gayety, festivity, mirth, merriment, joy. *
I Lit.:
jocum, festivitatem, ferias,Plaut. Capt. 4, 1, 3.—
II Transf.
A As a word of endearment (Plautinian):
mi animule, Mea vita, mea festivitas (for which, shortly after: voluptas mea, meus festus dies),my joy, my delight, Plaut. Cas. 1, 47; 3, 3, 14; id. Poen. 1, 2, 176.—*
B A pleasant or kind demeanor, kindness:
mei patris festivitas et facilitas,Ter. Eun. 5, 9, 18; cf. festivus, II. A.—
C Of speech, humor, pleasantry, jocoseness (Ciceron.;
syn.: facetiae, lepor, sal): cum in illo genere perpetuae festivitatis ars non desideretur,Cic. de Or. 2, 54, 219:
festivitate et facetiis C. Julius omnibus praestitit,id. Brut. 48, 177:
nec umquam fuit oratio lepore et festivitate conditior (shortly before: faceta et urbana),id. de Or. 2, 56, 227:
summa festivitate et venustate,id. ib. 1, 57, 243; id. Inv. 1, 18, 25:
imago antiquae et vernaculae festivitatis (corresp. to facetiae and lepores),id. Fam. 9, 15, 2.—In plur.:
Gorgias his festivitatibus insolentius abutitur,play of words, witticism, Cic. Or. 52, 176; Gell. praef. § 4.—
D Post-class., a festival, feast: festivitas in cunctis oppidis celebranda, Cod. Th. 15, 5, 3; Lampr. Alex. Sev. 63.—In plur.:
sollennes, Cod. Th. 6, 8, 1: natalium principis,ib. 6, 4, 30.