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maenad

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: mænad

English

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WOTD – 28 October 2025

Etymology

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A maenad (noun sense 1) on the tondo of a kylix from Vulci (now in northern Lazio, Italy), 490–480 B.C.E.[n 1] She is depicted carrying a thyrsus in one hand and a leopard in the other, with a snake coiled around her head.
A maenad (noun sense 1) playing a tibia (left) while dancing with a satyr, from the Dionysus Mosaic (220s C.E.).[n 2]

From Late Middle English *menadyen (attested in the plural form menadyens) + English -ad (suffix forming names of nymphs). *Menadyen is derived from Latin maenad-, a stem of maenās (“follower of Bacchus, bacchant”), from Ancient Greek μαινάς (mainás, “frantic; raving”), from μαίνομαι (maínomai, “to be mad, out of one’s mind, raving”),[1] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to mind; to think; spiritual activity”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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maenad (plural maenads or maenades)

  2. (Greek mythology, also attributive) A female follower of Dionysus (“the god of wine”), associated with intense revelling.
    Synonyms: Baccha, bacchante, Bassarid
    Coordinate term: bacchant
    • 1579, E. K., “[October. Ægloga Decima.] Glosse.”, in Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 43, verso:
      VVild yuie) for it is dedicated to Bacchus & therefore it is ſayd that the Mænades (that is Bacchus franticke prieſtes) vſed in theyr ſacrifice to carry Thyrſos, vvhich vvere pointed ſtaues or Iauelins, vvrapped about vvith yuie.
      The extensive commentaries and glosses included with the work are ascribed to an “E. K.”, who is sometimes assumed to be an alias of Spenser himself.
    • 1789, Juvenal, “Satire VI”, in M[artin] Madan, transl., A New and Literal Translation of Juvenal and Persius; […], volume I, London: […] [F]or the editor, and sold at T. Becket’s, […], →OCLC, page 273, lines 313–315:
      The ſecrets of the good goddeſs are knovvn, vvhen the pipe the loins / Incites; and alſo vvith the horn, and vvith vvine, the Mænads of Priapus / Are driven, aſtoniſhed, and toſs their hair and hovvl.
    • 1818–1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, pages 146–147:
      I, a most enamoured maiden / Whose weak brain is overladen / With the pleasure of her love, / Maniac-like around thee move / Gazing, an insatiate bride, / On thy form from every side / Like a Mænad, round the cup / Which Agave lifted up / In the wierd[sic – meaning weird] Cadmæan forest.
    • 1853 January, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Vashti”, in Villette. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 191:
      Even in the uttermost frenzy of energy is each mænad movement royally, imperially, incedingly upborne.
    • 1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “The Portrait”, in Romola. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC, book I, page 309:
      All about the walls hung pen and oil sketches of fantastic sea-monsters; dances of satyrs and menads; […]
    • 1914, Charles Waldstein, “The Subject-matter of Art”, in Greek Sculpture and Modern Art: Two Lectures Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy of London, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: [Cambridge] University Press, →OCLC, page 53:
      We know from the subjects of his [Scopas's] famous statues recorded by ancient writers, such as the raving Menad, that his works were replete with life, movement and passion.
    • 1980, Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, “Cows and Mares”, in Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 200:
      When Dionysus came to Thebes, Pentheus, king of Thebes, tried to arrest him and his wild maenads; but Pentheus went mad (capturing a bull whom he mistook for Dionysus), and the maenads escaped and tore him limb from limb.
    • 2008, Beryl Barr-Sharrar, “The Major Repoussé Frieze”, in The Derveni Krater: Masterpiece of Classical Greek Metalwork (Ancient Art and Architecture in Context; 1), Princeton, N.J.: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, →ISBN, page 123:
      With her back to the figure of Dionysos and partially visible from the front of the krater, this Derveni maenad stands balanced on the toes of her right foot, with her left foot, also on the toes, a little behind it […].
  3. (by extension, literary, derogatory) An excessively emotional or wild woman.

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ From the collection of the Staatliche Antikensammlungen (State Collections of Antiquities) in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
  2. ^ From the collection of the Römisch-Germanisches Museum (Romano-Germanic Museum) in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

References

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  1. ^ Compare “maenad, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “maenad, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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