bacchanal
See also: Bacchanal
English
WOTD – 21 January 2012
Alternative forms
- Bacchanal
Etymology
From Latin Bacchānālis (“of or pertaining to Bacchus”). See Bacchanalia.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbækənəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
bacchanal (comparative more bacchanal, superlative most bacchanal)
- Relating to Bacchus or his festival.
- 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], OCLC 560103767, canto I(please specify the stanza number):
- Sweet is the vintage, when the showering grapes / In Bacchanal profusion reel to earth, / Purple and gushing […]
-
- Engaged in drunken revels; drunken and riotous or noisy.
Translations
relating to Bacchus or his festival
|
engaged in drunken revels; drunken and riotous or noisy
|
Noun
bacchanal (plural bacchanals)
- A devotee of Bacchus.
- Someone who indulges in drunken partying; someone noisy and riotous when intoxicated.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- The riot of the tipsie Bachanals
-
- (in the plural) The festival of Bacchus; the bacchanalia.
- Drunken revelry; an orgy.
- A song or a dance in honor of Bacchus.
- (Trinidad and Tobago, informal) drama, ruckus, fiasco
Translations
devotee of Bacchus
|
festival of Bacchus
|
drunken revelry; an orgy
|
song or dance in honor of Bacchus
|
French
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Noun
bacchanal m (plural bacchanals)
- a loud, annoying noise
- a revolt amongst the peasantry
Further reading
- “bacchanal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.