Bacchanalia
/ˌbakəˈneɪlɪə
/plural noun [also treated as singular]
1The Roman festival of Bacchus.From Tmolus, the sacred mound, comes the exotic god of Bacchanalia with we disciples gathered round!...
- The Bacchanalia and the Liberalia were related religious festivals in ancient Rome, in honor of Bacchus.
- In Roman times, a Bacchanalia was basically a very drunken orgy paying homage to the god of wine.
2 (bacchanalia) Drunken celebrations: the bacchanalia that marked the night...
- The orgies and bacchanalia all exist elsewhere.
- Inspired by our collective thirst for art and bacchanalia, the first of these parties, ‘Yo, Bum Rush the Show’ was a wild success.
- I had the intense good fortune - or the abject misfortune, depending on your point of view - to come of age in Manchester in 1988, a time that was bookmarked by the lawless, reckless and thoroughly groovy bacchanalia of acid house.
Origin
Late 16th century: from Latin bacchanalia, neuter plural of the adjective bacchanalis (see bacchanal).