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Feb 14, 2012
This week's theme
Words coined after gods and goddesses

This week's words
promethean
dionysian
palladium
junoesque
apollonian

Bacchus by Caravaggio
Bacchus/Dionysus
Art: Caravaggio (1571-1610)

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Dionysian

PRONUNCIATION:
(dy-uh-NISH-uhn, -NIS-ee-uhn)

MEANING:
adjective: Uninhibited; undisciplined; spontaneous; wild; orgiastic.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility in Greek mythology. He was a son of Zeus and considered the opposite of his brother, Apollo. His Roman equivalent is Bacchus. Earliest documented use: before 1610.

USAGE:
"Nigella Lawson, who tends towards the indulgent side, revels in the wickedness of dionysian excess."
Doug Anderson; Television; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Nov 29, 2011.

See more usage examples of dionysian in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock. -Ben Hecht, screenwriter, playwright, novelist, director, and producer (1894-1964)

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