banquet

C2+ Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈbæŋkwɪt/ UK /ˈbæŋkwɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an elaborate ceremonial meal for many guests

The wedding banquet featured a dozen lavish courses.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an elaborate ceremonial... feast spread dinner repast carousal

Opposites

snack fast

Word family

Derived forms banquetingbanqueter

Simplified etymology

Banquet entered English in the late Middle Ages from a French word meaning “little bench,” ultimately belonging to the same word family as bank and bench. It originally meant a snack rather than an elaborate formal meal.

Etymology

From French banquet, from Italian banchetto ('a light repast'), diminutive of banco ('bench, table'), of Germanic origin (from *bankiz, 'bench').

banchetto Italian *bankiz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# banquet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbæŋkwɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbæŋkwɪt/

## Meanings
1. an elaborate ceremonial meal for many guests

## Examples
- The wedding banquet featured a dozen lavish courses.

## Synonyms
- feast
- spread
- dinner
- repast
- carousal

## Antonyms
- snack
- fast

## Derived Forms
- banqueting
- banqueter

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: banchetto
- Root: *bankiz

## Etymology
From French banquet, from Italian banchetto ('a light repast'), diminutive of banco ('bench, table'), of Germanic origin (from *bankiz, 'bench').

## AI Etymology
banquet comes from French banquet, from Italian banchetto ('a light repast'), diminutive of banco ('bench, table'), of Germanic origin (from *bankiz, 'bench'). The path is chiefly one of transmission: an older form is taken into English, with the word's shape and meaning carried through the language names and forms preserved in the history. In modern use, the noun sense is "an elaborate ceremonial meal for many guests", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes derivatives such as banqueting, banqueter, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Italian banchetto, Proto-Germanic *bankiz, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

markdown