A penile fibula is foremost a ring, attached with a pin through the foreskin to fasten it above the glans penis.
[2] This ring type of fibula has been described akin to a "large modern safety pin".
[3] Its usage may have had several reasons, for example to avoid intercourse, to promote modesty or the belief that it helped preserve a man's voice.
[4][5] The word fibula could also be used in general in Rome to denote any type of covering of the penis (such as with a sheath) for the sake of voice preservation or sexual abstinence, it was often used by masters on their slaves for this purpose.
[7][8][6][3][9] Infibulation could be also a surgical procedure in which two holes were pierced in the foreskin, so a metal clasp could be locked on them to close the prepuce shut.