bacchanal

[noun bah-kuh-nahl, bak-uh-nal, bak-uh-nl; adjective bak-uh-nl]

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noun

a follower of Bacchus.

a drunken reveler.

an occasion of drunken revelry; orgy; bacchanalia.

adjective

pertaining to Bacchus; bacchanalian.

Origin of bacchanal

1530–40; < Latin Bacchānāl, equivalent to Bacch(us) + -ānāl, probably as back formation from Bacchānālia; see Bacchanalia

Synonyms for bacchanal

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3. saturnalia, debauch, spree, carousal.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bacchanal

carnival, debauch, feast, orgy, party, frolic, reveler

British Dictionary definitions for bacchanal

bacchanal

noun

a follower of Bacchus

a drunken and riotous celebration

a participant in such a celebration; reveller

adjective

of or relating to Bacchus

Word Origin for bacchanal

C16: from Latin Bacchānālis; see Bacchus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bacchanal

1530s (n.); 1540s (adj.), from Latin bacchanalis "having to do with Bacchus" (see Bacchus). Meaning "riotous, drunken roistering; orgy" is from 1711.