"Bacchante, female attendant or priestess of Bacchus," whose festivals were celebrated with mad dancing and singing, 1570s, from Greek mainas (genitive mainados) "priestess of Bacchus," literally "madwoman," from stem of mainesthai "to rage, go mad," from PIE *mnyo-, suffixed form of root *men- (1) "to think." Related: Maenadic.
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