feast

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See also: Feast

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: fēst, IPA(key): /fiːst/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːst

Etymology 1

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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

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feast (plural feasts)

  1. A very large meal, often of a ceremonial nature.
    We had a feast to celebrate the harvest.
  2. Something delightful
    It was a feast for the eyes.
  3. A festival; a holy day or holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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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

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From Middle English feesten, festen, from Old French fester, from Medieval Latin festāre, from the noun. See above.

Verb

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feast (third-person singular simple present feasts, present participle feasting, simple past and past participle feasted)

  1. (intransitive) To partake in a feast, or large meal.
    I feasted on turkey and dumplings.
  2. (intransitive) To dwell upon (something) with delight.
  3. (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.
  4. (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.
Derived terms
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Anagrams

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