Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- the end of the 19th century.
adjective
- Sometimes fin-de-siècle. of, relating to, or characterized by concepts of art, society, etc., associated with the end of the 19th century.
noun
- the end of the 19th century, when traditional social, moral, and artistic values were in transition
adjective fin-de-siècle
- of or relating to the close of the 19th century
- decadent, esp in artistic tastes
1890, from French fin de siècle “end of century,” phrase used as an adjective. At the time it meant “modern;” now it means “from the 1890s.” “App. first in title of a comedy, Paris fin de siècle, produced at the Gymnase, Feb. 1890″ [Weekley]. French siècle “century, age” is from Latin saeculum (see secular).
The end of the nineteenth century; the phrase is French for “end of the century.” Fin de siècle is particularly used to describe the period’s self-conscious artistic movements and a sophisticated despair that became popular at the time. Oscar Wilde is one of the best-known fin-de-siècle figures.