Etymologically
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banquet

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 13 October 2026 at 16:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbæŋkwɪt/, /ˈbæŋkɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French banquet,[2][3][4] from Italian banchetto,[2][5][3][4] a diminutive of banco or banca “bench”,[6][2][5][3] which is of Germanic origin[5][6] and related to bench and bank.[5][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A feast or sumptuous entertainment (1483).[7][5][2]

Semantic evolution

The word literally means “little bench”.[6][5] The American Heritage Dictionary describes a French development from “little bench” to a meal taken on the family workbench and then to “feast”.[6] Etymonline suggests it first meant a snack eaten on a bench, hence a light meal between meals,[5] a sense recorded in English from 1509 and now obsolete.[7] From the 16th century it also meant a dessert of sweetmeats, fruit and wine.[7][1] Banquets were long associated with the powerful and wealthy, and a 19th-century editor called the word “grandiloquent” when it was taken up lower down the social scale.[6]

Timeline

  • probably before 1475 – first recorded.[2][6]
  • 1483 – a sumptuous feast.[7]
  • about 1500 – verb, to feast.[5][3]
  • 1509 – a light meal between meals, now obsolete.[7]
  • 1523 – a course of sweetmeats, fruit and wine.[7]
  • 1563 – applied to the Eucharist.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large and elaborate feast.
  2. A ceremonial dinner held in honour of a person or occasion.

Verb

  1. To entertain someone with a banquet.
  2. To take part in a banquet; to feast.

Word family

  • banqueter
  • banquette

Usage notes

Random House refers to feast for a discussion of synonyms.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press