feast

feast · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dʰéh₁s“god, godhead, deity”
2. Proto-Italic · derived from*fēs-tos
3. Latin · derived fromfestum“holiday, festival, feast”
4. Late Latin · derived fromfesta
5. Old French · derived fromfeste
6. Middle English · inherited fromfeeste
7. English todayfeast

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 wīnhāte.

feast · verb²

1. Medieval Latin · derived fromfestāre
2. Old French · derived fromfester
3. Middle English · inherited fromfeesten
4. English todayfeast

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

Feast · proper noun³

1. Persian · calque ofضیافت
2. Middle English · derived fromfest“fart”
3. Middle English · derived fromfist“fist”
4. English todayFeast

From either Middle English fist (“fist”), perhaps a nickname for an aggressive person, or from Middle English fest (“fart”). The Baháʼí sense is a calque of Calque of Persian ضیافت (ziyâfat).

Words from the same roots