Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FEAST, n. [L. festum; Fr. fête; Sp. fiesta; It. festa; Ir. feasda; D. feest; G. fest.]

1. A sumptuous repast or entertainment, of which a number of guests partake; particularly, a rich or splendid public entertainment. On Pharaoh's birth-day, he made a feast to all his servants. Gen. xl.
2. A rich or delicious repast or meal; something delicious to the palate.
3. A ceremony of feasting; joy and thanksgiving on stated days, in commemoration of some great event, or in honor of some distinguished personage; an anniversary, periodical or stated celebration of some event; a festival; as on occasion of the games in Greece, and the feast of the passover, the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles among the Jews.
4. Something delicious and entertaining to the mind or soul; as, the dispensation of the Gospel is called a feast of fat things. Is. xxv.
5. That which delights and entertains. He that is of a merry heart bath a continual feast. Prov. xv. In the English church, feasts are immovable or movable: immovable, when they occur on the same day of the year, as, Christmas-day, &c.; and movable, when they are not confined to the same day of the year, as Easter, which regulates many others.