Banquet - Definitions from Dictionary.com

9 results for: Banquet

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ban·quet

Audio Help [bang-kwit] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -quet·ed, -quet·ing.

–noun

1.	a lavish meal; feast.

2.	a ceremonious public dinner, esp. one honoring a person, benefiting a charity, etc.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to entertain or regale with a banquet: They banqueted the visiting prime minister in grand style.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to have or attend a banquet; feast: They banqueted on pheasant, wild boar, and three kinds of fish.

[Origin: 1425–75; < MF < It banchetto (banc(o) table (see bank²) + -etto -et); r. late ME banket < MF

]

—Related forms

ban·quet·er, ban·que·teer

Audio Help [bang-kwi-teer] Pronunciation Key, noun

—Synonyms 1. See feast.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Banquet

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ban·quet Audio Help (bāng'kwĭt) Pronunciation Key
n.

An elaborate, sumptuous repast.
A ceremonial dinner honoring a particular guest or occasion.

tr. & intr.v. ban·quet·ed, ban·quet·ing, ban·quets
To honor at or partake of a banquet.

[Old French, diminutive of banc, bench; see bank³.]

ban'quet·er n.

Word History: The linguistic stock of the word banquet has been fluctuating for a long time. The Old French word banquet, the likely source of our word, is derived from Old French banc, "bench," ultimately of Germanic origin. The sense development in Old French seems to have been from "little bench" to "meal taken on the family workbench" to "feast." The English word banquet is first recorded in a work possibly composed before 1475 with reference to a feast held by the god Apollo, and it appears to have been used from the 15th to the 18th century to refer to the feasts of the powerful and the wealthy. Perhaps this association led a 19th-century newspaper editor to label the word "grandiloquent" because it was being appropriated by those lower down on the social scale.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
banquet

1483, from O.Fr. banquet (15c.), from O.It. banchetto dim. of banco "bench," originally a snack eaten on a bench (rather than at table), hence "a slight repast between meals;" the meaning has entirely reversed.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

banquet
noun
1.	a ceremonial dinner party for many people
2.	a meal that is well prepared and greatly enjoyed; "a banquet for the graduating seniors"; "the Thanksgiving feast"; "they put out quite a spread"
verb
1.	provide a feast or banquet for [syn: feast]
2.	partake in a feast or banquet [syn: feast]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
banquet [ˈbӕŋkwit] noun

a feast or ceremonial dinner at which speeches are often made

Arabic:	مَأْدَبَه، وَليمَه
Chinese (Simplified):	宴会
Chinese (Traditional):	宴會
Czech:	banket
Danish:	festmiddag; banket
Dutch:	feestmaal
Estonian:	bankett
Finnish:	banketti
French:	banquet
German:	das Bankett
Greek:	συμπόσιο
Hungarian:	bankett
Icelandic:	stórveisla
Indonesian:	jamuan makan
Italian:	banchetto

Japanese:	宴会
Korean:	연회
Latvian:	bankets
Lithuanian:	banketas
Norwegian:	bankett, representasjonsmiddag
Polish:	bankiet
Portuguese (Brazil):	banquete
Portuguese (Portugal):	banquete
Romanian:	banchet
Russian:	банкет
Slovak:	banket
Slovenian:	banket
Spanish:	banquete
Swedish:	bankett
Turkish:	ziyafet

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Banquet

Ban"quet\, n. [F., a feast, prop. a dim. of banc bench; cf. It. banchetto, dim. of banco a bench, counter. See Bank a bench, and cf. Banquette.]

1. A feast; a sumptuous entertainment of eating and drinking; often, a complimentary or ceremonious feast, followed by speeches.

2. A dessert; a course of sweetmeats; a sweetmeat or sweetmeats. [Obs.]

We'll dine in the great room, but let the music And banquet be prepared here. --Massinger.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Banquet

Ban"quet\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Banqueted; p. pr. & vb. n. Banqueting.] To treat with a banquet or sumptuous entertainment of food; to feast.

Just in time to banquet The illustrious company assembled there. --Coleridge.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Banquet

Ban"quet\, v. i. 1. To regale one's self with good eating and drinking; to feast.

Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets, I would not taste thy treasonous offer. --Milton.

2. To partake of a dessert after a feast. [Obs.]

Where they did both sup and banquet. --Cavendish.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Banquet

a feast provided for the entertainment of a company of guests (Esther 5; 7; 1 Pet. 4:3); such as was provided for our Lord by his friends in Bethany (Matt. 26:6; Mark 14:3; comp. John 12:2). These meals were in the days of Christ usually called "suppers," after the custom of the Romans, and were partaken of toward the close of the day. It was usual to send a second invitation (Matt. 22:3; Luke 14:17) to those who had been already invited. When the whole company was assembled, the master of the house shut the door with his own hands (Luke 13:25; Matt. 25:10). The guests were first refreshed with water and fragrant oil (Luke 7:38; Mark 7:4). A less frequent custom was that of supplying each guest with a robe to be worn during the feast (Eccles. 9:8; Rev. 3:4, 5; Matt. 22:11). At private banquets the master of the house presided; but on public occasions a "governor of the feast" was chosen (John 2:8). The guests were placed in order according to seniority (Gen. 43:33), or according to the rank they held (Prov. 25:6,7; Matt. 23:6; Luke 14:7). As spoons and knives and forks are a modern invention, and were altogether unknown in the East, the hands alone were necessarily used, and were dipped in the dish, which was common to two of the guests (John 13:26). In the days of our Lord the guests reclined at table; but the ancient Israelites sat around low tables, cross-legged, like the modern Orientals. Guests were specially honoured when extra portions were set before them (Gen. 43:34), and when their cup was filled with wine till it ran over (Ps. 23:5). The hands of the guests were usually cleaned by being rubbed on bread, the crumbs of which fell to the ground, and were the portion for dogs (Matt. 15:27; Luke 16:21). At the time of the three annual festivals at Jerusalem family banquets were common. To these the "widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger" were welcome (Deut. 16:11). Sacrifices also included a banquet (Ex. 34:15; Judg. 16:23). Birthday banquets are mentioned (Gen. 40:20; Matt. 14:6). They were sometimes protracted, and attended with revelry and excess (Gen. 21:8; 29:22; 1 Sam. 25:2,36; 2 Sam. 13:23). Portions were sometimes sent from the table to poorer friends (Neh. 8:10; Esther 9:19, 22). (See MEALS.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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