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Oct 4, 2012
This week's theme
Words from classical mythology

This week's words
aesculapian
protean
terpsichorean
bacchanal
morphean

Bacchus/Dionysus
Bacchus/Dionysus
Art: Caravaggio (1571-1610)

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

bacchanal

PRONUNCIATION:
(BAK-uh-nal, -nahl)

MEANING:
noun:
1. A wild and drunken celebration.
2. A drunken reveler.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Bacchus, the god of wine in Roman mythology. His Greek equivalent is Dionysus. Earliest documented use: 1536. A related term is bacchant.

USAGE:
"The move backfired, encouraging instead a bacchanal of booze, followed by a parade of puking."
Ben Butler; Corporate Delinquents Drink to Better Times; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Sep 3, 2012.

See more usage examples of bacchanal in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away. -T.S. Eliot, poet (1888-1965)

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