dionysia
/ˌdaɪəˈnaɪsiə/ noun, proper noun
Forms dionysias
- noun The orgiastic Ancient Greek festivals seasonally held in honor of Dionysus, which evolved into Greek comedy and tragedy.
- noun (historical) Any of the ancient festivals held in honour of the Olympian god Dionysus, and corresponding to the Roman Bacchanalia. “The greater Dionysia were held at Athens in March or April, and were celebrated with elaborate performances of tragedies and comedies.”
- proper noun A female given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], masculine equivalent Dionysius.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Διονῡ́σια n pl (Dionū́sia), from Διόνῡσος (Diónūsos, “Dionysus”).
Learned borrowing from Latin Dionȳsia, feminine of Dionȳsius, from Ancient Greek Δῐονῡ́σῐος (Dĭonū́sĭos), from Διόνῡσος (Diónūsos, “Dionysus”) + -ῐος (-ĭos, “pertaining to”). Doublet of Denise.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any of the festivals held in honor of the Olympian god Dionysus. They correspond to the Roman Bacchanalia; the greater Dionysia were held at Athens in March or April, and were celebrated with elaborate performances of both tragedies and comedies.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dionysia”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details