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bacchanal

[noun bah-kuh-nahl, bak-uh-nal, bak-uh-nl; adjective bak-uh-nl]
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noun
  1. a follower of Bacchus.
  2. a drunken reveler.
  3. an occasion of drunken revelry; orgy; bacchanalia.
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adjective
  1. pertaining to Bacchus; bacchanalian.
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Origin of bacchanal

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

Synonyms

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3. saturnalia, debauch, spree, carousal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for bacchanal

bacchanal

noun
  1. a follower of Bacchus
  2. a drunken and riotous celebration
  3. a participant in such a celebration; reveller
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adjective
  1. of or relating to Bacchus
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Word Origin

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper