banquet

noun

1. a lavish meal; feast.
2. a ceremonious public dinner, especially one honoring a person, benefiting a charity, etc.

verb (used with object), ban·quet·ed, ban·quet·ing.

3. to entertain or regale with a banquet: They banqueted the visiting prime minister in grand style.

verb (used without object), ban·quet·ed, ban·quet·ing.

4. to have or attend a banquet; feast: They banqueted on pheasant, wild boar, and three kinds of fish.

noun

1. a lavish and sumptuous meal; feast
2. a ceremonial meal for many people, often followed by speeches

verb -quets, -queting or -queted

3. (intr) to hold or take part in a banquet
4. (tr) to entertain or honour (a person) with a banquet

n.

late 15c., “feast, sumptuous entertainment,” from French banquet (15c.; in Old French only “small bench”), from Old Italian banchetto, diminutive of banco “bench;” originally a snack eaten on a bench (rather than at table), hence “a slight repast between meals;” the meaning has entirely reversed. As a verb from 1510s.