banquet
American Heritage Dictionary:
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ban·quet
(băng'kwĭt) 
n.
To honor at or partake of a banquet.
n.
- An elaborate, sumptuous repast.
- A ceremonial dinner honoring a particular guest or occasion.
To honor at or partake of a banquet.
[Old French, diminutive of banc, bench. See bank3.]
banqueter 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.
Roget's Thesaurus:
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banquet
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banquette
1. Narrow footpath beside an aqueduct or road.
2. Raised stand-ing-place or platform behind a rampart.
3. Window-seat or long seat against a wall or recessed into it.
Word Tutor:
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banquet
IN BRIEF: A formal dinner or feast for many people.
A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.
— Aesop (620-560 B.C.)
Tutor's tip: At the "banquet" (sumptuous meal), some sat on a "banquette" (bench) at the end of the table.
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Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'banquet'
- Cuisines, Meals, and Restaurants - banquet: large, sumptuous spread of many dishes
- Celebrations, Observances, Rites, and Gatherings - banquet: lavish meal for many people, esp. ceremonial or honorific
See crossword solutions for the clue Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Banquet
For other uses, see Banquet (disambiguation).
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) |
| Part of a series on |
| Meals |
|---|
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| Common meals |
| Breakfast · Brunch · Lunch · Tea · Dinner · Supper |
| Components & courses |
| Amuse-bouche · Appetizer · Cheese · Cocktails · Dessert · Drink · Entrée · Entremet · Fruit · Main course · Nuts · Salad · Side dish |
| Related concepts |
| Banquet · Buffet · Cuisine · Eating · Etiquette · Food · Global cuisines · Outline of cuisines · Snack |
A banquet (English: /ˈbæŋk.wɪt/, French: [bɑ̃.kɛ]) is a large meal or feast[1], complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, and is often preceded or followed by speeches in honour of someone.
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Contents
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Historic context
The idea of banqueting is ancient (see Sellisternium, Belshazzar's Feast, and Mead halls) In the sixteenth century a banquet was very different from our modern perception and stems from the medieval 'ceremony of the void'. After dinner the guests would stand and drink sweet wine and spices while the table was cleared, or ‘voided’ (Later in the seventeenth century ‘void’ would be replaced with the French ‘dessert’). During the sixteenth century, guests would no longer stand in the great chamber whilst the table was cleared and the room prepared for entertainment, but would retire to the parlour or banqueting room.
As the idea of banqueting developed, it could take place at any time during the day and have much more in common with the later practice of taking tea. Banqueting rooms varied greatly from house to house, but were generally on an intimate scale either in a garden room or inside such as the small banqueting turrets in Longleat House.
Contemporary times
Today banquets serve many purposes from training sessions, to formal business dinners. Business banquets are a popular way to strengthen bonds between businessmen and their partners. It is common that a banquet is organized at the end of an academic conference. A luau is one variety of banquet originally used in Hawaii. The Nei Mongol provincial government in China levies a tax on banquets.
See also
References
- ^ "Banquet." (definition). Merriam-webster.com. Accessed August 2011.
- Albala, Ken (2007). The banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of late Renaissance Europe. Board of Trustees, University of Illinois. ISBN 0-252-03133-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=owhN5NvAn5YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=banquet&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I_P3Tu_xK4XWiALjw-SODQ&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=banquet&f=false.
External links
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Translations:
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Banquet
Dansk (Danish)
n. - festmiddag, banket, festmåltid
v. tr. - beværte, give festmiddag for
v. intr. - holde banket, holde festmåltid
Nederlands (Dutch)
banket, gastmaal
Français (French)
n. - banquet, festin
v. tr. - offrir un banquet à, offrir un festin à, régaler
v. intr. - faire un banquet, festoyer
Deutsch (German)
n. - Bankett
v. - ein Festessen veranstalten
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - συνεστίαση, συμπόσιο
v. - συνευωχούμαι, συνδειπνώ, παραθέτω δείπνο
Português (Portuguese)
n. - banquete (m)
v. - banquetear-se, dar um banquete
Español (Spanish)
n. - banquete
v. tr. - homenajear
v. intr. - formar parte de un banquete
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - bankett, festmåltid, kalas
v. - kalasa, festa
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
宴会, 盛宴, 宴请, 款待, 设宴款待, 参加宴会
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 宴會, 盛宴, 宴請, 款待
v. tr. - 宴請, 設宴款待
v. intr. - 參加宴會
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 연회
v. tr. - ~을 대접하다
v. intr. - 진수 성찬을 대접 받다
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 宴会, ごちそう
v. - 宴会に列席する, 宴に列する
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) حفله فخمه, وليمه (فعل) أولم
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - מסיבה, סעודה, משתה
v. tr. - ערך מסיבה ל-
v. intr. - הסב
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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