banquet

/ˈbæŋkwɪt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

obsolete/ˈbæŋkɪt/

banquet noun: a large celebratory meal; a feast.

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Noun

banquet (plural banquets)

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.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 5:4
Synonyms:

reception
A ceremonial dinner party for many people.
(archaic) A dessert; a course of sweetmeats.
- Wee'll dine in the great roome, but let the muſick / And banquet be prepar'd here.c. 1624–1625 (date written), Philip Massinger, The Vnnaturall Combat. A Tragedie. […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Waterson, […], published 1639, →OCLC, Act III, scene i
- At Inverkeithing the teetotalers objected to this profligate expenditure, so the Provost and magistrates manfully paid for their “cookies” out of their own pockets. At Dunse, instead of a cake and wine banquet, there was “a fruit conversazione,” whatever that may be.1874, Saturday Review: Politics, Literature, Science and Art

Verb

banquet (third-person singular simple present banquets, present participle banqueting or (uncommon) banquetting, simple past and past participle banqueted or (uncommon) banquetted)

(intransitive) 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.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Song of Songs of Songs-Chapter-2/#4 2:4
(obsolete) To have dessert after a feast.
- 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 and banquet.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...
(transitive) 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?c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Just in time to banquet
  The illustrious company assembled there.1800, Frederick Schiller, The Piccolomini, or the First Part of Wallenstein, translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, London: Longman & Rees, Act I, scene i, p. 2

banquet meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

banquet in Hindi

large celebratory meal — see also feast: भोज bhoj, दावत dāvat, प्रीतिभोज prītibhoj

banquet in Tamil

large celebratory meal — see also feast: விருந்து viruntu

banquet in Urdu

large celebratory meal — see also feast: ضِیافَت ziyāfat, بَزْم bazm, دَعْوَت da'vat, جَشْن jaśn

banquet in Bengali

banquet, feast: জশন jośon
banquet: মেহমানী mehmani

More languagesFewer languages

banquet in Malayalam: വിരുന്ന്, സദ്യ, സൽക്കാരം
banquet in Kannada: ಔತಣ, ಭೋಜನಕೂಟ, ಭೋಜನ ಸಮಾರಂಭ, ಬಿದ್ದು
banquet in Gujarati: જમણવાર jamaṇvār, મિજબાની mijbānī
banquet in Sanskrit: उत्सव utsava
banquet in Pashto: بزم bazm
banquet in Arabic: وَلِيمَة walīma, مَأْدُبَة maʔduba, ضِيَافَة ḍiyāfa
banquet in Malay: jamuan, perjamuan
banquet in Indonesian: banket, andrawina
banquet in Thai: งานเลี้ยง ngaan-líiang
banquet in Vietnamese: đại tiệc, yến tiệc

Examples of banquet in a sentence

So comes a Reck’ning when the Banquet’s o’er, / The dreadful Reck’ning, and Men ſmile no more.[1715], [John] Gay, The What D’Ye Call It: A Tragi-comi-pastoral Farce, London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, Act II, scene ix, page 40:
Who goes to dine must take his feast / Or find the banquet mean; / The table is not laid without / Till it is laid within.c. 1870, Emily Dickinson, “(please specify the chapter or poem)”, in M[abel] L[oomis] Todd and M[illicent] T[odd] Bingham, editors, Bolts...
And the sun, even as you and I and all there is, sits in equal honour at the banquet of the Prince whose door is always open and whose board is always spread.1933, Kahlil Gibran, The Garden of the Prophet:
Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets, / I would not taste thy treasonous offer.1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634...

All 40 example sentences with banquet

Synonyms of banquet

reception

Forms of banquet

Noun
plural	banquets
alternative form (obsolete)	bankette
Verb
third-person singular present	banquets
present participle	banqueting
present participle uncommon	banquetting
past participle	banqueted
past	banqueted
past participle uncommon	banquetted
past uncommon	banquetted

Plural of banquet: banquets

Origin of banquet

From Middle English banket, from Middle French banquet, from Italian banchetto (“light repast between meals, snack eaten on a small bench”, literally “a small bench”), from banco (“bench”), from Lombardic *bank, *panch (“bench”), from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”). Akin to Old High German bank, banch (“bench”), Old English benċ (“bench”). More at bank, bench. The unetymological /w/ resulted from spelling-pronunciation.

Words formed from banquet

Phrases with banquet

Questions about banquet

What does banquet mean?: Banquet means a large celebratory meal; a feast.
What is banquet in Hindi?: Banquet in Hindi is भोज (bhoj), दावत (dāvat), प्रीतिभोज (prītibhoj). See Banquet meaning in Hindi.
How do you use banquet in a sentence?: So comes a Reck’ning when the Banquet’s o’er, / The dreadful Reck’ning, and Men ſmile no more.
What part of speech is banquet?: Banquet can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce banquet?: Banquet is pronounced /ˈbæŋkwɪt/.
What is the plural of banquet?: The plural of banquet is banquets.

Words near banquet in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: banquet (page history and authors); জশন (Bengali) (page history and authors); banquet (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); banquet (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-banquet.ogg.

Cite this entry: “banquet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/banquet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.