banquet means A large celebratory meal; a feast. It carries an Arena rating of 1489, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, banquet ranks #2,574 of 14,448 for Funniest Words, #3,362 of 14,340 for Most Vivid Words, #5,810 of 14,297 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,904 of 14,322 for Scariest Words.
banquet is pronounced /ˈbæŋkwɪt/.
Why “banquet” is a great word
A large, elaborate, and often ceremonial meal held to celebrate an occasion or honor a person. From Old French banquet ("feast"), itself from Old Italian banchetto, a diminutive of banco ("bench, table"), ultimately of Germanic origin. Unlike "feast," which suggests primal abundance, or "dinner," which marks the diurnal, a banquet is a curated performance of consumption—the gleam of silver on white linen, the precise choreography of service, the clinking of goblets raised in unison. It is a fleeting architecture of order and plenty, built knowingly upon the common bench.
noun
- 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.”
- A ceremonial dinner party for many people.
- A dessert; a course of sweetmeats.“Wee'll dine in the great roome, but let the muſick / And banquet be prepar'd here.”
verb
- To participate in a banquet; to feast.“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.”
- To have dessert after a feast.“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 an”
- To treat with a banquet or sumptuous entertainment of food; to feast.“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?”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- repast 87% match — A meal. vs banquet →
- regale 86% match — A feast, a meal. vs banquet →
- comessation 84% match — Feasting, banqueting. vs banquet →
- potluck 84% match — A meal, especially one offered to a guest, consisting of whatever food is available. vs banquet →
- commemoration 83% match — The act of commemorating; an observance or celebration to honor the memory of some person or event. vs banquet →
- revelry 82% match — Joyful or riotous merry-making. vs banquet →
- hospitality 82% match — The act or service of welcoming, receiving, hosting, or entertaining guests; an appropriate attitude of openness, respect, and generosity toward guests. vs banquet →
- conviviality 82% match — The state of being convivial; a feeling of comfort and happiness, as from celebrating casually with friends. vs banquet →