fete

1 of 2

noun

variants or fête
1
: festival
Class Day, the great fete of the yearCatherine D. Bowen
2
a
: a lavish often outdoor entertainment
a fete in the park with music and performances
b
: a large elaborate party
a fete to celebrate the museum's centennial

fete

2 of 2

verb

variants or fête
feted or fêted; feting or fêting

transitive verb

1
: to honor or commemorate with a fete
2
: to pay high honor to

Did you know?

Fete is a word worth celebrating. It's been around since Middle English, when it was used in a manuscript to refer to "fetes, spectacles and other worldly vanytees." Since the 19th century, fete has been doing double duty, also serving as a verb meaning "to honor or commemorate with a fete." You can honor fete by remembering that it entered English from Middle French, and that it derives ultimately from the Old French feste, meaning "festival"—a root that, not surprisingly, also gave English the word feast. Because of its French ties, you will sometimes see fete spelled with a circumflex above the first e (fête), as that's how it appears in that language.

Examples of fete in a Sentence

Noun won a prize at the church fete the heiress wanted to do something with her life other than shuttle from fete to fete Verb They feted the winning team with banquets and parades. the returning servicemen and servicewomen were feted with a week's worth of celebrations
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Fronting the campaign is Imaan Hammam, who was in attendance at last night's cocktail fete, which featured a full spread of Indian delights. Vogue, 13 Mar. 2024 Brandy Clark entered Sunday’s awards fete with a career total of 17 Grammy nominations and no wins — a record for any country-music artist. George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2024 At the fete, Vogue caught up with Nnadi and Malle on their favorite memories from the past year and what's to come in 2024. Concetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 14 Feb. 2024 Crop Over’s summer fete is tied to when enslaved people celebrated the end of sugarcane season or the crop was over. Kristin Braswell, Travel + Leisure, 10 Feb. 2024 The fete, lit up by a vibrant magenta light, celebrated the brand’s viral Candy Glaze Lip Gloss Stick. Kiana Murden, Vogue, 9 Feb. 2024 During the event, Del Rey took the stage to fete producer Jack Antonoff, who is her collaborator on the new album. Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 1 Feb. 2024 Bloom and Perry first cross paths at the Hollywood fete over, of all things, a plate of In-N-Out burgers. Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 8 Jan. 2024 White Cube’s annual rager at Soho House Miami Beach, a Gagosian fete cohosted with Positano hotel Le Sirenuse, and a Mickelane Thomas party with Janelle Monae at the Miami Beach Edition. Vogue, 6 Dec. 2023
Verb
Bon Jovi’s 40th anniversary kicked off earlier this year when their lead singer was feted as the MusiCares Person of the Year with a tribute concert featuring the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Shania Twain, Jason Isbell, Jelly Roll and many more. Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024 Coming up this weekend are a trio of titles feted at Cannes. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 13 Mar. 2024 Mattel is feting the occasion with a special anniversary doll collection, as well as more than 40 collaborations with partners including Keds, Uno, Alex and Ani, Hallmark, Roots, 1-800-Flowers and more. Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024 As previously announced, Oprah Winfrey will receive a Vanguard Award while Emmy Award-winning Niecy Nash-Betts will be feted with a Stephen F. Kolzak Award. Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2024 The show peaked in the 9:45 p.m. quarter-hour with 18.25 million viewers during the In Memoriam segment, which featured performances by Fantasia Barrino (honoring Tina Turner), Stevie Wonder (feting Tony Bennett), Annie Lennox (Sinéad O’Connor) and Jon Batiste (Clarence Avant). Paul Grein, Billboard, 5 Feb. 2024 Taylor was also feted at the 25th annual Kennedy Center Honors in 2002. People Staff, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024 Gene Kelly, the legendary song-and-dance man who directed her second film, Hello, Dolly!, was feted in 1989. Paul Grein, Billboard, 25 Feb. 2024 Last night in Soho, Gucci feted the launch of its Ancora spring 2024 collection with a night of music, drinking, and dancing. Ian Malone, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fete.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English fete, from Middle French, from Old French feste — more at feast

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1814, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fete was in the 15th century

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near fete

Cite this Entry

“Fete.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fete. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

fete

1 of 2 noun
variants or fête
1
2
: a fancy entertainment or party

fete

2 of 2 verb
variants or fête
feted or fêted; feting or fêting
1
: to honor with a fete
2
: to pay high honor to

More from Merriam-Webster on fete

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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