Dionysiac

[ dahy-uh-nis-ee-ak, -nahy-see- ]

adjective
  1. of or relating to the Dionysia or to Dionysus; Bacchic.

Origin of Dionysiac

1
1820–30; <Latin Dionȳsiacus<Greek Dionȳsiakós, equivalent to Diónȳs(os) Dionysus + -i- derivative stem vowel + -akos-ac

Other words from Dionysiac

  • Di·o·ny·si·a·cal·ly [dahy-uh-ni-sahy-ik-lee], /ˌdaɪ ə nɪˈsaɪ ɪk li/, adverb

Words Nearby Dionysiac

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Dionysiac in a sentence

  • This is the place of meeting and residence66 of the Dionysiac artists (who travel about) Ionia as far as the Hellespont.

  • London, indeed, would be the better for the infusion of a more Dionysiac spirit into her sthetic appreciations and ideals.

    Vie de Bohme | Orlo Williams
  • The theater originated in the Dionysiac mysteries of the Greeks, in which dramatic action and responsive choruses were employed.

    Folkways | William Graham Sumner
  • Three men only stood firm, facing the new Dionysiac revel, to see what would come of it.

  • He therefore united them in a society, similar in many respects to that of the Dionysiac artificers.

    The Symbolism of Freemasonry | Albert G. Mackey

British Dictionary definitions for Dionysiac

Dionysiac

/ (ˌdaɪəˈnɪzɪˌæk) /


adjective
  1. of or relating to Dionysus or his worship

  2. a less common word for Dionysian

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012