Feast (fēst), n. [OE. feste festival, holiday, feast, OF. feste festival, F. fête, fr. L. festum, pl. festa, fr. festus joyful, festal; of uncertain origin. Cf. Fair, n., Festal, Fête.] 1. A festival; a holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary.
The seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Ex. xiii. 6.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. Luke ii. 41.
☞ Ecclesiastical feasts are called immovable when they always occur on the same day of the year; otherwise they are called movable.
2. A festive or joyous meal; a grand, ceremonious, or sumptuous entertainment, of which many guests partake; a banquet characterized by tempting variety and abundance of food.
Enough is as good as a feast. Old Proverb.
Belshazzar the King made a great feast to a thousand of his lords. Dan. v. 1.
3. That which is partaken of, or shared in, with delight; something highly agreeable; entertainment.
The feast of reason, and the flow of soul. Pope.
Feast day, a holiday; a day set as a solemn commemorative festival.
Syn. — Entertainment; regale; banquet; treat; carousal; festivity; festival. — Feast, Banquet, Festival, Carousal. A feast sets before us viands superior in quantity, variety, and abundance; a banquet is a luxurious feast; a festival is the joyful celebration by good cheer of some agreeable event. Carousal is unrestrained indulgence in frolic and drink.