sb. (and a.) [ad. L. Bacchānt-em, sb. (in L. fem. only: see next) f. pr. pple. of bacchāri, ad. Gr. Βακχά-ειν to celebrate with frenzied gestures the festival of Bacchus.]
A. sb. A priest, priestess, or inspired votary of Bacchus; hence, a drunken reveller, roysterer.
1699. Boyer, Fr. Dict. (1759), Bacchante, a Bacchant, a Priestess of Bacchus.
1774. Westm. Mag., II. 428. Bacchants reeling to the tipsy song.
1853. Trench, Proverbs, 134. The thyrsus-bearers are many, but the bacchants few.
B. as adj. Bacchus-worshipping, wine-loving.
1800. Moore, Anacreon, iv. 15. Many a rose-lipped bacchant maid Is culling clusters in their shade.
1821. Byron, Juan, III. xliii. Over his shoulder, with a Bacchant air, Presented the o’erflowing cup.
