bacchante 
a womau inspired with tho bacchic frenzy. 
See mii'iidil. 
Guide tlit revel nf frenzied Bacchantes. 
Longfellow, Evangeline, ii. 2. 
Bacchantes. Mythological festival of Bacchus, from an ancient 
sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum. 
2. A woman addicted to intemperance or riot- 
ous revelry ; a female bacchanal, 
bacchantic (ba-kan'tik), a. [< bacchant + -ic.~\ 
Of or resembling a bacchant or bacchanal ; bac- 
chanalian ; riotous ; jovial. 
It is the feeblest band [of music] ; and yet it is subjeet 
to spurts of ba?chantie fervor. 
C. D. Warner, Winter on the Nile, p. 103. 
I hardly know what of bacchant joyousness I had not 
attributed to them [the Italians] oil their holidays. 
Hou'ellit, Venetian Life, xviii. 
baccharict, A corrupt form of Bacharach. 
Baccharis (bak'a-ris), n. [NL., < L. bacchar, bet- 
ter spelled Itaccdris, baccar, < Gr. ftanKapif (some- 
times spelled ftdicxaptf, as if related to Ba/c^of, 
Bacchus), an unknown plant with an aromatic 
root yielding 
an oil : said 
to be a Lydi- 
an word.] A 
very large ge- 
nus of plants 
of the natural 
order Com- 
positai, some- 
what nearly 
allied to Eri- 
yeron, but 
with dioe- 
cious whitish 
or yellowish 
flowers, and 
the leaves 
often coated 
with a resin- 
ous secretion. 
They are most- 
ly shrubs, some- 
times small 
trees, chiefly 
tropical and 
South Ameri- 
can. About 20 
species occur 
in the United 
States. In the 
Andes extensive plateaus are covered with them. Sudor- 
ific and tonic properties are ascribed to several of the more 
resinous species. A decoction from the groundsel-tree 
of the West Indies and Atlantic coast of North America, 
n. halimifolia, is occasionally used as a remedy in diseases 
of the lungs and as a demulcent. 
baccharoid (bak'a-roid), a. [< Baccharis + 
-oid.} Resembling in some respect the group 
of composite plants of which the genus Bac- 
charis is the type. 
bacchiac (ba-ki'ak), a. [< Gr. /fa^a/cof, also 
jiaKxeiaKo^, < pfavtoc, /So/c^eZof, a bacchius: see 
bacchius.] Pertaining to or consisting of bac- 
chii. 
Bacchic (bak'ik), a. [< L. Bacchicus, < Gr. BOJC- 
XIKOS, < Ba/c^of , Bacchus : see Bacchus.} 1 . Re- 
lating to or in honor of Bacchus ; connected 
with bacchanalian rites or revelries. [Often 
without a capital.] 
The bacchic orgia were celebrated on the tops of hills 
and desolate wild places. 
Stukeley, Palreographia Sacra, p. 39. 
2. Jovial ; drunken ; mad with intoxication : as, 
a Bacchic reveler. 3. [i.e.] Same as bacchiac. 
Bacchic amphora or vase, in archmol., a Greek or 
Roman amphora or vase decorated with scenes relating to 
the myths or the festivals of Bacchus. Also called Diony- 
siac amphora or vase. An example is shown in the cut of 
a decorated amphora, under amphora. 
Bacchicalt (bak'i-kal), a. Same as Bacchic: 
as, "bacchical enthusiasm," J. Spencer, Vul- 
gar Prophecies, p. 78. 
bacchius (ba-ki'us), .; pi. Ixtcchii (-1). [L. 
(so. pes = E. foot), < Gr. Bax^etuf (sc. iroi't = L. 
Bacchus and Eros ( Love ) Museo 
Nazionale, Naples. 
Groundsel-tree (Baccharis haiimifolia). 
410 
jicis), a metrical loot: so named, it is said, from 
its use in hymns in honor of Bacchus.] In 
pros., a foot composed of one short and two 
long syllables, with the ictus on the first long, 
as in ava'ii, abovo'board. See antibacchiun 
and hemiolie. (Before the Alexandrine period Baltics 
meant the 'IWCIKOS ( w w or ^ w ) (see lot/it-) or the 
Xopianfiot ( ~ ^ ) (see choriamb). Beginning with that 
period, the Baxeio was ^, and U7ro0dx et 9 (ai-Ti- 
aKX t o, 7raAl^/3axeios) ^ . Ilepha'Stion, < tllilltiliaM, 
and other writers ID vert this, and make the Ba*x<> w .- 
Bacchus (bak'us), n. [L., < Gr. Ba/vtof, an- 
other name of Dionysus, the god of wine ; also 
one of his followers or priests. Also called 
v Ia/c,Yof, prob. related to taxeiv, shout, with allu- 
sion to the noisy manner in which the festival 
of Dionysus was celebrated.] In Hrtmiical myth., 
a name of Diony- 
sus, the son of 
Zeus (Jupiter) and 
Semele, and the 
god of wine, per- 
sonifying both its 
good and its bad 
qualities. It was the 
current name of this 
god among the Ko- 
mans. The orgiastic 
worship of Bacchus 
was especially charac- 
teristic of Bajotia, 
where his festivals 
were celebrated on the 
slopesof Mount Citlue- 
ron, and extended to 
those of the neighbor- 
ing Parnassus. In At- 
tica the rural and 
somewhat savage cult 
of Bacchus underwent 
a metamorphosis, and 
reached its highest ex- 
pression in the cho- 
ragic literary contests 
in which originated 
both tragedy and com- 
edy, andf or which were 
written most of the 
masterpieces of Greek 
literature. Bacchus 
was held to have taught 
the cultivation of the grape and the preparation of wine. 
In early art, and less commonly after the age of Phidias, 
Bacchus is represented as a bearded man of full age, usu- 
ally completely draped. After the time of Praxiteles he 
appears almost universally, except in archaistic examples, 
in the type of a beardless youth, of graceful and rounded 
form, often entirely undraped or very lightly draped. 
Among his usual attributes are the vine, the ivy, the thyr- 
sus, the wine-cup, and the panther. Hee Dionysia, maenad, 
and thiasus. 
bacciferous (bak-sif'e-rus), a. [< L. baccifer, 
bdcifer, < bacca, baca, berry (cf. baccate), + 
ferre = E. bear 1 .'] Bearing or producing ber- 
ries. 
bacciform (bak'si-form), a. [< L. bacca, baca, 
a berry, + forma, shape.] Shaped like a berry. 
baccivorous (bak-siv'o-rus), a. [< L. bacca, 
baca, , berry, + vorare, eat, devour.] Eating or 
subsisting on berries: as, baccieorous birds. 
bacet, . An obsolete form of base, in various 
senses. 
Bacharach (bak'a-rak), n. A brand of Rhine 
wine made at Bacharaeh, a small town in Rhe- 
nish Prussia, on the left bank of the Rhine, 23 
miles south of Coblentz. Formerly also backa- 
rach, backrack, backrag, baccharic, etc. [In the 
old forms generally without a capital.] 
I'm for no tongues but dry'd ones, such as will 
Give a flue relish to my backrag. 
Jasper Maytw, City Match. 
Good backrack ... to drink down in healths to this 
day. Fletcher, Beggar's Bush, v. 2. 
bachel (bak'el), . [See fcacife.] A grain-mea- 
sure used in parts of Greece, varying in capacity 
from of a bushel to Ii bushels, according to 
the locality. Also bacile. 
baeheler t, n. An obsolete form of bachelor. 
bacheleriat, . [ML., also bacelleria, etc.: see 
bachelery.~\ In old records, the commonalty or 
yeomanry, in contradistinction to the baron- 
age. 
bacheleryt, n. [ME., also bachelerie, lachelry, 
-rie, etc., < OF. bachelerie (ML. baeheleria, etc.), 
< baeheler: see bachelor and -y.~\ 1. The body 
of young aspirants for knighthood. 
And of his retenue the bachelrye. 
Chaucer, Clerk s Tale, 1. 214. 
2. The whole body of knights. 
This Phebus that was flour of bachilrie. 
Chaucer, Manciple's Tale, 1. 21. 
bachelor (bach'e-lor), n. [Early mod. E. also 
baeheler, batchtter, 'batchelor, -ar, -om; batchler, 
etc.; < ME. baclteler, bachiler, bachler, etc., < 
(a) OF. baeheler = It. baccalare = Pr. bacalar, 
bachelorism 
< ML. baecalaris; (b) later OF. btteli flier, ba- 
cltilier, etc., F. bachclier = Pr. bachallier = Sp. 
lini'/ii/ler = It. baecallierc, < ML. baccalaritis, 
Imccl/alarius, etc. (later baccalawevs : see bac- 
calaureate), a bachelor. Origin uncertain; 
supposed by some to be orig. connected witli 
ML. baccalai'ius, the holder, as vassal of a 
superior vassal, of a farm called baocalaria, 
perhaps < bacca, for L. raeca, a cow. By 
others the OF. baeheler, in the assumed orig. 
sense of ' a young man,' is connected with 
OF. bticek; bacelle, bacliclc, baclielle (with dim. 
bacclette, bachelote), a young woman, a female 
servant, bacfieleric, youth, bacelage, appren- 
ticeship, courtship, etc., words erroneously re- 
ferred to a Celtic origin (W. bitch, little, btclittti, 
a little girl, bacliyen, a boy, a child). The his- 
tory of the forms mentioned above is not clear. 
Perhaps several independent words have be- 
come confused in form.] 1. Formerly, a per- 
son in the first or probationary stage of knight- 
hood; a knight not powerful enough to display 
his banner in the field, and who therefore fol- 
lowed the banner of another; a knight of low 
rank. See knight bachelor, under knight. 
I seke after a segge [man] that I seigh ons, 
A ful bolde bacheler I knew him by his blasen. 
Piers Plowman (B), xvi. 179. 
With him ther was his sone, a yong Squyer, 
A lovyere, and a lusty bacheler. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 79. 
"Community of the bachelors at England," that is, no 
doubt, the body of knights the tenants in chivalry, the 
landowners below the rank of the baronage. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist., 170. 
2. In universities and colleges : (a) Before the 
fifteenth century, a young man in apprentice- 
ship for the degree of master in one of the 
higher faculties, that is, of theology, law, or 
medicine, (b) In modern use, a person who 
has taken the first degree (baccalaureate) in the 
liberal arts and sciences, or in divinity, law, 
medicine, etc., at a college or university: as, 
a bachelor of arts ; a bachelor of science. See 
baccalaureate. Originally, a bachelor had not neces- 
sarily taken any degree whatever ; but after the fourteenth 
century the word, without ceasing to carry this significa- 
tion, was also applied to a determinant, or young man \vho 
had taken the lowest degree in the faculty of arts. This 
degree seems to have been conferred not by the chancel- 
lor nor by the faculty, but only by the "nation." It was 
not accompanied by any regular diploma, but testimonial 
letters were furnished if desired. In order to be admitted 
to the degree, it was requisite for the candidate to be four- 
teen years of age, to have followed a three years' course in 
logic in the university, and also to sustain a disputation, 
called the detenninanee. There were in the middle ages 
three orders of bachelors of theology. The lower order 
consisted of the ordinary biblice and cursors, the duty of 
the former being to read and expound the Bible from be- 
ginning to end, and that of the latter to give one course 
of lectures upon a book of the Old and another upon a 
book of the New Testament, which books they chose at 
pleasure. Bachelors of the second order of theology were 
called Hententiary bachelors, because they publicly read 
and expounded the Book of the Sentences of Peter the 
Lombard. It was not, however, till late in the thirteenth 
century that auy bachelor was permitted to lecture on the 
Sentences. According to the law, the lectures of the sen- 
tentiary bachelors had to include the reading of the text of 
the author, and the explanation of it phrase by phrase ; 
and they were forbidden to trench upon questions of logic 
and metaphysics. They also made certain acts called 
pri f tici.pia. Hee principium. As soon as the sententiary 
had completely tinished the exposition of the Sentences, 
he became a formed bachelor (baccalariwt forwatw), and 
had still to continue his theological studies for three years 
longer before he could be licensed to preach and to teach 
as a master. 
3. A man of any age who has not been married. 
It was my turquoise : I had it of Leah when I was a 
bachelor : I would not have given it for a wilderness of 
monkeys. Shak., M. of V., Hi. 1. 
4f. A woman who has not been married. 
He would keep you 
A bachelor still, by keeping of your portion ; 
And keep you not alone without a husband, 
But in a sickness. B. Jonson, Maguetick Lady, ii. 1. 
5. In London livery companies, a person not 
yet admitted to the livery. 6. A local name 
in the United States of a fish, Pomoxig niiini- 
laris, of the Mississippi valley ; a crappie. 
Sometimes incorrectly spelled batchelor. 
Budge, bachelors. See buagez. Knight bachelor. 
See knight. 
bachelorhood (bach'e-lor-hud), H. [< bachelor 
+ -Aoorf.] The state or condition of being a 
bachelor or unmarried man. 
I can fancy nothing more cruel after a long easy life of 
bachelorhood than to have to sit day after day with a dull 
handsome woman opposite. Thackeray, Newcomes, II. ii. 
Keeping in bachelorhood those least likely to be long- 
lived. H. Spetvxr, Study of Sociol., p. 95. 
bachelorism (bach'e-lpr-izm), n. [< bachelor 
+ -**;.] 1. The state of being a bachelor; 
bachelorhood. 2. A trait or habit peculiar to 
a bachelor. 
