Etymology

orgy

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Today it means: A secret rite or ceremony, typically involving riotous and dissolute behavior, including dancing, drunkenness and indiscriminate sexual activity, undertaken in honor of various pagan gods or goddesses (such as Attis, Bacchus, Ceres, Dionysus, Osiris, etc). Full definition →

French orgies ← Latin orgia ← Ancient Greek ὄργια
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromὄργια“secret rites, mysteries”
  2. Latin · derived fromorgia
  3. French · borrowed fromorgies
  4. English todayorgy

Originally in plural from French orgies, from Latin orgia, from Ancient Greek ὄργια (órgia, “secret rites, mysteries”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.