Repast

//ɹɪˈpɑːst// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A meal. archaic, countable, literary, uncountable

    "After evening repaſt, till bed time their thoughts will be beſt taken up in the eaſie grounds of Religion, and the ſtory of Scripture."

  2. 2
    the food served and eaten at one time wordnet
  3. 3
    A period of refreshment or rest. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "[T]he nobleſt Raptures have been conceiv'd in the Walks and ſhades of Trees, […] the Profound Philoſophers lov'd here to paſſe their lives in repoſe and Contemplation, and the frugal Repaſts—molleſque ſub arbore ſomni [a soft sleep under the tree] were the natural and chaſt delights of our Fore-Fathers."

  4. 4
    Food or drink that may be consumed as a meal. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "I prethee go, and get me ſome repaſt, / I care not what, ſo it be holſome foode."

  5. 5
    Something that is intellectually or spiritually nourishing. archaic, countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "For nought he car'd his carcas long vnfed; / His mind was full of ſpirituall repaſt, / And pyn'd his fleſh, to keepe his body low and chaſt."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    The consumption of food; also, refreshment obtained from eating; (generally) refreshment; rest. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "Forthwith he runnes with feigned faithfull haſt / Vnto his gueſt, who after troublous ſights / And dreames gan now to take more ſound repaſt, […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To supply (an animal or person) with food; to feed. archaic, transitive

    "To his good friends thus wide I'le ope my armes, / And like the kind life-rendring Pelican, / Repaſt them with my blood."

  2. 2
    To provide (a person) with intellectual or spiritual nourishment; to enlighten, to feed. archaic, figuratively, transitive
  3. 3
    To refresh (oneself or someone) through eating and drinking. also, obsolete, reflexive, transitive

    "[A]nd ſoo within a lytil whyle they came to that heremytage ⸝ and there they dranke the wyne ⸝ and ete the veneſon and the foules baken ⸝ And ſo whan they had repaſted hem wel ⸝ the dwarf retorned ageyn with his veſſel vn to the caſtel ageyne ⸝ […]"

  4. 4
    Usually followed by on or upon: to take food and drink; to feast, to feed. also, figuratively, intransitive, obsolete

    "And now they reach'd the naval Walls, and found / The Guards repaſting, while the Bowls go round; […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English repast, repaste (“feast, meal; food, nourishment; the Eucharist; refreshment, rest”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman, Middle French, Old French repast, Middle French, Old French repas (“meal, repast; spiritual nourishment”) (modern French repas), probably from Medieval Latin, Late Latin repastus (“meal”), from repāstus, the perfect passive participle of repāscō (“to feed; to feed one after another”), from Latin re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + pāscō (“to feed, nourish; to pasture (an animal); of an animal: to browse, graze; to maintain, support”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect; to shepherd”)).

Etymology 2

Partly: * from Middle English repasten (“(reflexive) to refresh (oneself) with food”) [and other forms], either from repast, repaste (“feast, meal; food, nourishment; the Eucharist; refreshment, rest”) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive forms of verbs); or from Late Latin repāstus, the perfect passive participle of repāscō (“to feed; to feed one after another”) (see further at etymology 1); and * from repast (noun).

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: repast