*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of feast

From Middle English feeste, feste, borrowed from Old French feste, from Late Latin festa, from the plural of Latin festum (“holiday, festival, feast”), from Proto-Italic *fēs-tos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰé

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A holiday, festival, especially a religious one · A very large meal, often of a ceremonial nature. · Something delightful and satisfying.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English feeste, feste, borrowed from Old French feste, from Late Latin festa, from the plural of Latin festum (“holiday, festival, feast”), from Proto-Italic *fēs-tos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s (“god, godhead, deity”); see also Ancient Greek θεός (theós, “god, goddess”). More at theo-. Doublet of fete, fiesta, and fest. Displaced Old English wīnhāte.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*dʰeh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "feeste"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English feeste"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "feste"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French feste"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "festa"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin festa"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "festum",
        "4": "",
        "5": "holiday, festival, feast"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin festum (“holiday, festival, feast”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "*fēs-tos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *fēs-tos"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*dʰéh₁s",
        "4": "",
        "5": "god, godhead, deity"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s (“god, godhead, deity”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fete",
        "3": "fiesta",
        "4": "fest"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of fete, fiesta, and fest"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Displaced"
      },
      "expansion": "Displaced"
    },
    {
      "name": "ncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "wīnhāte",
        "3": "",
        "t": "",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wīnhāte"
    },
    {
      "name": "displaced",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "wīnhāte"
      },
      "expansion": "Displaced Old English wīnhāte"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "feeste",
      "feeste#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "feste",
      "feste#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "feste",
      "feste#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "festa",
      "festa#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "festum",
      "festum#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*fēs-tos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/fēs-tos"
    ],
    [
      "*dʰéh₁s",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰéh₁s"
    ],
    [
      "θεός",
      "θεός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "theo-",
      "theo-#English"
    ],
    [
      "fete",
      "fete#English"
    ],
    [
      "fiesta",
      "fiesta#English"
    ],
    [
      "fest",
      "fest#English"
    ],
    [
      "wīnhāte",
      "winhate#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A holiday, festival, especially a religious one",
        "A very large meal, often of a ceremonial nature.",
        "Something delightful and satisfying."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "recordId": "07979ae39dad8338f085c39a03a6a26bfa4de71e34217a98c29093091951b9eb",
      "rawRecordSha256": "8bb959067a9a27e4ba146c916c83cd1c87f538f458f9579cced022f69f8fb77d",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 156455
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To partake in a feast, or large meal. · To dwell upon (something) with delight. · To hold a feast in honor of (someone). · To serve as a feast for; to feed sumptuously.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English feesten, festen, from Old French fester, from Medieval Latin festāre, from the noun. See above.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "feesten"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English feesten"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "fester"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French fester"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-med",
        "3": "festāre"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin festāre"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "feesten",
      "feesten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "festen",
      "festen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fester",
      "fester#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "festāre",
      "festare#Latin"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To partake in a feast, or large meal.",
        "To dwell upon (something) with delight.",
        "To hold a feast in honor of (someone).",
        "To serve as a feast for; to feed sumptuously."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive",
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "99478d68c26c6cad415db8c85c42770e8d7efc35d68c21a37f1289f4cbc8759a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "e7f8896f43703336cd50e947562c28b37cb4433ff83adc33e29fd920599effe6",
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    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for feast →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-ZmVhc3Q