bacchant

[ bak-uh nt, buh-kant, -kahnt ]
/ ˈbæk ənt, bəˈkænt, -ˈkɑnt /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR bacchant ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural bac·chants, bac·chan·tes [buh-kan-teez, -kahn-] /bəˈkæn tiz, -ˈkɑn-/.

a priest, priestess, or votary of Bacchus; bacchanal.
a drunken reveler.

adjective

inclined to revelry.

Origin of bacchant

First recorded in 1690–1700, bacchant is from the Latin word bacchant- (stem of bacchāns, present participle of bacchārī to revel). See Bacchus, -ant

OTHER WORDS FROM bacchant

bac·chan·tic, adjective

Words nearby bacchant

baccate, bacchae, bacchanal, bacchanalia, bacchanalian, bacchant, bacchante, bacchic, bacchius, bacchus, bacchylides

Words related to bacchant

ranter, merrymaker, roisterer, bacchanalian

Example sentences from the Web for bacchant

  • Scenes of bacchant excitement and of wildest abandonment may be witnessed here.

    The History of Prostitution |William W. Sanger

  • He was in this, just as he was in everything else, a remnant of a past age; he had merely been transformed into a Bacchant!

    The Title Market |Emily Post

  • But shall I be more like a Bacchant holding the thyrsus in my right hand, or in this?

    The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume I. |Euripides

British Dictionary definitions for bacchant

bacchant
/ (ˈbækənt) /

noun plural bacchants or bacchantes (bəˈkæntɪz)

a priest or votary of Bacchus
a drunken reveller

Word Origin for bacchant

C17: from Latin bacchāns, from bacchārī to celebrate the bacchanalia