Bacchanalia
[bak-uh-ney-lee-uh, -neyl-yuh]
- (sometimes used with a plural verb) a festival in honor of Bacchus.Compare Dionysia.
- (lowercase) a drunken feast; orgy.
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Origin of Bacchanalia
1625–35; < Latin equivalent to Bacch(us) + -ān(us) -an + -ālia, neuter plural of -ālis -al1; probably modeled on volcānālia. See Saturnalia
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for bacchanalian
souse, bacchanal, soak, alcoholic, tippler, stiff, lush, inebriate, boozer, wino, drinker, sponge, sot, debauchee, carouser, toper, dipsomaniac, ranter, merrymaker, bacchantbacchanalian
- characterized by or involving drunken revelry
- (often capital) of or relating to the orgiastic rites associated with Bacchus
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bacchanalia
- (often capital) orgiastic rites associated with Bacchus
- any drunken revelry
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for bacchanalian
1560s; see bacchanalia + -an. As a noun from 1610s.
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bacchanalia
"drunken revelry," 1630s, from the name of the Roman festival held in honor of Bacchus, from neuter plural of Latin bacchanalis (see bacchanal). A participant is a Bacchant (1690s), fem. Bacchante, from French. The plural of both is Bacchantes.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper