banquet English · revision 1619

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbæŋkwɪt/, /ˈbæŋkɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|banquet]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|it|banchetto]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a diminutive of ''banco'' or ''banca'' “bench”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) which is of Germanic origin^(Etymonline)^(AHD) and related to [[bench]] and [[bank]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A feast or sumptuous entertainment (1483).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word literally means “little bench”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) The American Heritage Dictionary describes a French development from “little bench” to a meal taken on the family workbench and then to “feast”.^(AHD) Etymonline suggests it first meant a snack eaten on a bench, hence a light meal between meals,^(Etymonline) a sense recorded in English from 1509 and now obsolete.^(OED 1989) From the 16th century it also meant a dessert of sweetmeats, fruit and wine.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) 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.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * probably before 1475 – first recorded.^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)

+ * 1483 – a sumptuous feast.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1500 – verb, to feast.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1509 – a light meal between meals, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1523 – a course of sweetmeats, fruit and wine.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1563 – applied to the Eucharist.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large and elaborate [[feast]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A ceremonial dinner held in honour of a person or occasion.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To entertain someone with a banquet.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # To take part in a banquet; to feast.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[banqueter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[banquette]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House refers to ''feast'' for a discussion of synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}