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feast (fēst)
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n.
1.
a. A large, elaborately prepared meal, usually for many persons and often accompanied by entertainment; a banquet.
b. A meal that is well prepared and abundantly enjoyed.
2. A periodic religious festival commemorating an event or honoring a god or saint.
3. Something giving great pleasure or satisfaction: a book that is a veritable feast for the mind.
v. feast·ed, feast·ing, feasts
v.tr.
To give a feast for; entertain or feed sumptuously: feasted the guests on venison.
v.intr.
1. To partake of a feast; eat heartily.
2. To experience something with gratification or delight: feasted on the view.
Idiom:
feast (one's) eyes on
To be delighted or gratified by the sight of: We feasted our eyes on the paintings.

[Middle English feste, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *fēsta, from Latin, pl. of fēstum, from fēstus, festive; see dhēs- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

feaster n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.