banquet

plural banquets · alternative obsolete bankette

1. A large celebratory meal; a feast.

   True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant, And in his commendations I am fed; / It is a banquet to me.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]

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   And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 5:4

   So comes a Reck’ning when the Banquet’s o’er, / The dreadful Reck’ning, and Men ſmile no more.

   [1715], [John] Gay, The What D’Ye Call It: A Tragi-comi-pastoral Farce, London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, Act II, scene ix, page 40

   [T]he hazels rose / Tall and erect, with milk-white clusters hung, / A virgin scene! — A little while I stood, / Breathing with such suppression of the heart / As joy delights in; and, with wise restraint / Voluptuous, fearless of a rival, eyed / The banquet, […]

   1798, [William Wordsworth], “Nutting”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], →OCLC

   Who goes to dine must take his feast / Or find the banquet mean; / The table is not laid without / Till it is laid within.

   c. 1870, Emily Dickinson, “(please specify the chapter or poem)”, in M[abel] L[oomis] Todd and M[illicent] T[odd] Bingham, editors, Bolts of Melody, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, published 1945, page 229

   And the sun, even as you and I and all there is, sits in equal honour at the banquet of the Prince whose door is always open and whose board is always spread.

   1933, Kahlil Gibran, The Garden of the Prophet

   Synonyms: reception

2. A ceremonial dinner party for many people.
3. archaicA dessert; a course of sweetmeats.

   Wee'll dine in the great roome, but let the muſick / And banquet be prepar'd here.

   c. 1624–1625 (date written), Philip Massinger, The Vnnaturall Combat. A Tragedie. […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Waterson, […], published 1639, →OCLC, Act III, scene i

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   At Inverkeithing the teetotalers objected to this profligate expenditure, so the Provost and magistrates manfully paid for their “cookies” out of their own pockets. At Dunse, instead of a cake and wine banquet, there was “a fruit conversazione,” whatever that may be.

   1874, Saturday Review: Politics, Literature, Science and Art

present singular third person banquets · participle present banqueting · participle present uncommon banquetting · participle past banqueted · past banqueted · participle past uncommon banquetted · past uncommon banquetted · alternative obsolete bankette

1. intransitiveTo participate in a banquet; to feast.

   He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Song of Songs of Songs-Chapter-2/#4 2:4

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   I am resolved; 'tis but a three years' fast: / The mind shall banquet, though the body pine: / Fat paunches have lean pates, and dainty bits / Make rich the ribs, but bankrupt quite the wits.

   c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

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

   Comus

   1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC, lines 701–702

   "Ay, ay," said Wamba, who had resumed his attendance on his master, "rare feeding there will be—pity that the noble Athelstane cannot banquet at his own funeral.—But he," continued the Jester, lifting up his eyes gravely, "is supping in Paradise, and doubtless does honour to the cheer."

   1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XXXII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC

2. obsoleteTo have dessert after a feast.

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   1580, George Cavendish, quoted by John Stow (ed.), The Annales of England, Faithfully collected out of the most autenticall Authors, Records, and other Monuments of Antiquitie, 1600 edition, “Henry the eight.,” p. 907, Then was the banquetting chamber in the tilt yard at Greenewich, to the which place these strangers were conducted by the noblest personages in the court, where they did both sup and banquet.

3. transitiveTo treat with a banquet or sumptuous entertainment of food; to feast.

   1800, Frederick Schiller, The Piccolomini, or the First Part of Wallenstein, translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, London: Longman & Rees, Act I, scene i, p. 2, Just in time to banquet The illustrious company assembled there.

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   Not possible; for who shall bear your part / And be in Padua here Vincentio's son; / Keep house and ply his book, welcome his friends, / Visit his countrymen, and banquet them?

   c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

   They treated them with profound reverence, as beings descended from heaven, and conducted them to a spacious house, the residence of the cacique, where they were banquetted in their simple but hospitable way, with bread and various fruits of excellent flavour, and different kinds of beverages which have been already mentioned.

   1828, Washington Irving, “Voyage through the Gulf of Paria”, in A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: G. & C. Carvill, […], →OCLC, book X, pages 169–170