banquet
Americannoun
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a lavish meal; feast.
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a ceremonious public dinner, especially one honoring a person, benefiting a charity, etc.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a lavish and sumptuous meal; feast
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a ceremonial meal for many people, often followed by speeches
verb
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(intr) to hold or take part in a banquet
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(tr) to entertain or honour (a person) with a banquet
Usage
What does banquet mean? A banquet is a feast, as in Theo likes to host banquets so he can cook all his favorite foods for others. A banquet is also a public dinner, often very fancy and benefiting a charity or celebrating a person, as in Mac likes to organize the sports banquet at the end of the year for all the school’s teams. A banquet is basically a feast for a lot of people. It’s a large, sumptuous meal during a ceremonious gathering. Banquets can be arranged to benefit a charity or to celebrate a specific person or group of people. To banquet means to entertain with a banquet or to have a banquet. You’ll often hear the phrase banqueting hall, which is a room, especially in large medieval buildings, that is big enough to hold a banquet. Example: Doreen hosted a banquet to raise money for a children’s charity.
Synonym Usage
See feast.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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banquetsimple
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banquetssimple
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have banquetedperfect
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has banquetedperfect
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am banquetingprogressive
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are banquetingprogressive
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is banquetingprogressive
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have been banquetingperfect progressive
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has been banquetingperfect progressive
Past
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banquetedsimple
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had banquetedperfect
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was banquetingprogressive
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were banquetingprogressive
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had been banquetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of banquet
First recorded in 1450–1500; from Middle French, from Italian banchetto ( banc(o) “table” ( see bank 2) + -etto -et ); replacing late Middle English bankat, banket(te), from Middle French
Explanation
It’s customary to celebrate Thanksgiving with a banquet, or elaborate feast — along with the requisite bickering between family members. If you sat down to a banquet in the earliest sense of this word, you’d surely be disappointed. Banquet comes from a French word meaning "bench," and originally a banquet was a small snack — something you could eat while sitting on a bench. If a particular family member isn’t cooperating at your next holiday meal, consider having him dine in this traditional fashion, on a bench somewhere far from the dining room table.
Vocabulary lists containing banquet
Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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Ancient Rome - Introductory
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Or pointed to the refrigerator case with Banquet country fried-chicken bowls, Red Baron deep-dish pizza and Snickers for sale.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026
Yang also had a role in the film, and has starred in previous films including The Wedding Banquet, Fire Island, Bros and the first Wicked film.
From BBC • Dec. 20, 2025
But speaking at the annual Lady Mayor's Banquet on Monday, Starmer said China "poses real national security threats", and said London would continue to raise human rights issues with Beijing.
From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025
They first tried to host the rally at the Pacific Hills Banquet & Event Center in Laguna Hills, but the venue opted to cancel after receiving a flurry of calls and emails about the event.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2024
Traditionally, the members of the senior class invited their younger brothers and sisters to the Commencement Dance, held the night before the Junior- Senior Banquet, which was always the last Friday in May.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
