ban·quet / ˈbangkwit/ • n. an elaborate and formal evening meal for many people, often followed by speeches: the Austrian emperor's lavish banquets [as adj.] a banquet table. ∎  an elaborate and extensive meal; a feast: a ten-course Chinese banquet.• v. (-quet·ed, -quet·ing) [tr.] entertain with a banquet: there are halls for banqueting up to 3,000 people [as adj.] (banqueting) a banqueting hall. DERIVATIVES: ban·quet·er n.

banquet, banquette.
1. Narrow footpath beside an aqueduct or road.

2. Raised stand-ing-place or platform behind a rampart.

3. Window-seat or long seat against a wall or recessed into it.

banquet XV. — (O)F. banquet, dim, of banc bench (BANK2), corr. to It. banchetto, dim. of banco; the orig. application seems to have been to a slight meal taken on the domestic bench.