Hello teachers,

Orgy: a wild gathering marked by promiscuous sexual activity, excessive drinking.
Bacchanal: a drunken and riotous celebration.

Source: WR Dictionary

Are they same at meaning? I think there is no big difference between Orgy and Bacchanal.
But what's your idea? Is there any difference between them or not?

Many thanks in advance.

 

In my experience, at bacchanals you concentrate on drinking; in orgies, sex

 

My experience with these is limited, but basically a bacchanal involves drinking and an orgy involves sex, and if they end up so that you can't tell which of them it is any more, hey, it was a successful one.

 

Thanks so much.

 

We would make the same distinction in AE. (Perhaps unfortunately, I have no hands-on experience with either.)

 

Thanks for answering Egmont.

 

Also everyone knows what an orgy is, but not everyone understands "bacchanal". An "orgy" can also be used metaphorically: "an orgy of chocolate-eating", for those sad people who don't get invited to the real thing.

 

Thanks for answering. But I didn't ask (Orgy of something). I know what (Orgy of something) is.
I just asked Orgy.

Anyway, thanks for answering.

 

That's the big one - "orgy" is more common and "bacchanal" very rare. Nowadays, an "orgy" is understood as necessarily sexual.

(In older books - say, from the 1930's and before - you may see "orgy" used to describe "a wild party" without any sexual implications.)