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Saturnalia

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

noun-plural. The ancient Roman seven-day festival of Saturn, which began on December 17.

noun-plural. A celebration marked by unrestrained revelry and often licentiousness; an orgy.

Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. A period or occasion of general license, in which the passions or vices have riotous indulgence; a period of unrestrained revelry.

the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

noun-plural. The festival of Saturn, celebrated in December, originally during one day, but afterward during seven days, as a period of unrestrained license and merriment for all classes, extending even to the slaves.

noun-plural. Hence: A period or occasion of general license, in which the passions or vices have riotous indulgence.

The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

In Roman antiquity, the festival of Saturn, celebrated in the middle of December as a harvest-home observance. It was a period of feasting and mirthful license and enjoyment for all classes, extending even to the slaves.

Hence Any wild or noisy revelry; unconstrained, wild, and licentious reveling.

WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

n. a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity

n. an orgiastic festival in ancient Rome in honor of Saturn

Word Usage

"We have to realize that not everyone observes Christmas as anything other than a "saturnalia" - a pagan festival."

Hypernym

Words that are more generic or abstract

revelry revel festival fete

Cross Reference

bacchanalia dionysia

Synonym

Words with the same meaning

festival carouse

Same Context

Words that are found in similar contexts

wassail debauch revelry hoodlum orgie