feast
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Feast
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English feeste, feste, borrowed from Old French feste, from Late Latin festa, from the plural of Latin festum (“holiday, festival, feast”), from Proto-Italic *fēs-tos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s (“god, godhead, deity”); see also Ancient Greek θεός (theós, “god, goddess”). More at theo-. Doublet of fete, fiesta, and fest. Displaced Old English winhate.
Noun
feast (plural feasts)
- A very large meal, often of a ceremonial nature.
- We had a feast to celebrate the harvest.
- Something delightful
- It was a feast for the eyes.
- A festival; a holy day or holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 13:6:
- The seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 2:41:
- Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
Synonyms
Derived terms
- a contented mind is a perpetual feast
- afterfeast
- Barmecide feast
- bean-feast
- bean feast
- bull feast
- double feast
- Dutch feast
- enough is as good as a feast
- feast day
- feaster
- feast for the eyes
- feastful
- feastly
- Feast of Asses
- Feast of Fools
- Feast of Light
- Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
- Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels
- Feast of the Circumcision of Christ
- Feast of the Divine Mercy
- Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus
- Feast of Trumpets
- Feast of Tsing Ming
- Feast of Weeks
- feast one's eyes
- feast or famine
- feasty
- fixed feast
- forefeast
- ghost at the feast
- Great Feasts
- love feast
- midnight feast
- movable feast
- moveable feast
- postfeast
- run feast
- silver feast
- silver-feast
- skeleton at the feast
- smell-feast
- specter at the feast
- spectre at the feast
Translations
large, often ceremonial meal
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something delightful
festival, holiday, solemn, or more commonly, joyous, anniversary
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 2
From Middle English feesten, festen, from Old French fester, from Medieval Latin festāre, from the noun. See above.
Verb
feast (third-person singular simple present feasts, present participle feasting, simple past and past participle feasted)
- (intransitive) To partake in a feast, or large meal.
- I feasted on turkey and dumplings.
- (intransitive) To dwell upon (something) with delight.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 47”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
- With my love's picture then my eye doth feast.
- (transitive) To hold a feast in honor of (someone).
- 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- He that shall see this day, and live old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors
And say “Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.”
- We feasted them after the victory.
- (transitive, obsolete) To serve as a feast for; to feed sumptuously.
- 1597–1598, Joseph Hall, Virgidemiarum
- Or once a week, perhaps, for novelty / Reez'd bacon-soords shall feast his family.
- 1597–1598, Joseph Hall, Virgidemiarum
Derived terms
Translations
to partake in a feast
to hold a feast in honor of someone
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