fete
/feɪt
/(also fête)
noun
1British A public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments: a church fete...
- As late as 1987 a street fête held to raise money for a local charity caused Vera to remark, ‘There we all were, all pulling together’.
- Despite the bad weather the fête raised a record £2,268 and the Rev Sally Attwater thanked everyone for turning out and supporting it in such unfavourable conditions.
- The fête raised more than £1,600 for books for the new library.
1.1chiefly North American A celebration or festival.There are nine weeks left until he hands back the ceremonial chain of office and Maurice has an impossibly packed agenda right up to then of summer fêtes and community festivals, as well as short trips to Russia and China....
- Plácido Domingo persuades the Met to revive Sly, an opera rarely seen since 1927 (then he doesn't really deliver); New York Festival of Song throws a splendid fête.
- Organizers expect upward of 300,000 visitors; the spectacular 10-day fête includes arts festivals, workshops, a Mardi Gras parade, and sports, health and youth events.
verb [with object]
Honour or entertain (someone) lavishly: she was an instant celebrity, feted by the media...
- But Save Montreal shaped the city we know, so much so that last week city hall - its former foe - formally fêted its main dude Michael Fish.
- Each of the boys was awarded the Purple Heart for gallantry and their parents were fêted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House.
- It's the usual story: we are fêted as heroines when we land at Edinburgh airport and then, within a few days, folk have forgotten our names.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'festival, fair'): from French, from Old French feste (see feast).