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Showing content from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/68799 below:

feast, n. meanings, etymology and more

There are eight meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun feast, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

feast has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

About 8occurrences per million words in modern written English

1750 16 1760 17 1770 19 1780 19 1790 20 1800 22 1810 23 1820 23 1830 22 1840 20 1850 20 1860 20 1870 20 1880 19 1890 18 1900 16 1910 14 1920 13 1930 12 1940 12 1950 11 1960 9.6 1970 8.4 1980 7.7 1990 7.8 2000 8.2 2010 8.4

Earliest known use

Middle English

The earliest known use of the noun feast is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).

OED's earliest evidence for feast is from before 1200, in MS Trinity Cambridge.

feast is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: French feste; Latin fēstum.

Nearby entries

fear-strucken, adj.1623–
feartie, n.1923–
fear-worship, n.1849–
feasance, n.1528–1741
feaser, n.1866–
feasetraw, n.1595–1660
feasibility, n.1624–
feasible, adj.c1460–
feasibleness, n.1633–
feasibly, adv.1653–
feast, n.a1200–
feast, v.c1300–
feast-bed, n.a1661–1876
feast cake, n.1845–
feast cloth, n.a1325
feast day, n.c1300–
feasted, adj.1440–
feasten, adj.1838–
feaster, n.a1450–
feast-famous, adj.1605
feastful, adj.c1425–

Browse more nearby entries

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