refection

/ɹɪˈfɛkʃən/

Etymology

From French réfection, from Latin refectiōnem, accusative singular of refectiō (“recovery, refection”), from reficiō (“restore, renew”).

Why this word is great

REFECTION — [Noun] A light meal or refreshment, especially one that restores energy. From French réfection, from Latin refectiōnem ("recovery, refection"), from reficiō ("restore, renew"). Unlike "repast" (a meal of any weight or consequence) or "refreshment" (which could be a cool breeze or a sip of water), refection is sustenance as gentle revival. It is the bowl of broth after a long walk in the cold, the slice of buttered bread with tea at a dim kitchen table, or the shared oranges that taste sweeter for the pause they force upon you—small mercies that stitch the frayed edges of exhaustion back together, a reminder that renewal need not be grand to be real.

noun

Mental or spiritual refreshment.
Physical refreshment, especially with food or drink.“For beſide the common way and road of reception by the root, there may be a refection and imbibition from without; For gentle ſhowrs refreſh plants, though they enter not their roots; [...]”
A meal, especially a light meal.“[T]he cooks were laying a refection before him of sack and anchovies and garlic sausage and gammons of bacon and - this was the important item - a great pudding dish out of which rose the noble dome of a crisp brown pie-crust.”