feasibleness, fecibleness

[English feasible: -ne .] The quality or state of being feasible; feasibility. fēaş-i-bly, adv. [Eng. feasib ( le ); -ly.] In a feasible or practicable manner; practically. feast, *feest, *feeste, *fest, *feste, s . [0. Fr. feste ; Fr. fête , from Lat. festa (=festivals), neut. pl. of festum a festival, from fest us =joyful; O. Sp.; Port. & Ital. festa ; Sp. fiesta ; Ger. fest .] I. Ordinary Language: 1. Literally: (1) A sumptuous meal or entertainment of which a large number of persons partake; a public entertainment or banquet. "Alle the noble men of this lond to the noble fest come." Robert of Gloucester, p. 156. (2) An anniversary or periodical celebration of some event; a festival in commemoration of some great event or personage. "Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired."- Mark xv. 6. 2. Figuratively : (1) A pleasing or abundant repast; anything very grateful to the palate. (2) Entertainment, treat. "The feast of reason and the flow of soul." Pope: Horace; Satires, ii. i. 128. pine, pit, sire, sîr, marine; gō, pot, Syrian. 2, II. Religions , .: A day set apart for religious observance, accompanied with joy, as distinguished from one attended by sorrow. 1. Ethnic : Such feasts exist in most faiths, and are much more common than fasts. The Greeks and Romans had many of them; so have the modern Hindoos and the Mohammedans. [FESTIVAL.] 2. Jewish: Of all the Jewish festivals, only that on the great day of Atonement was a fast: the rest were joyous observances. Among the latter were the Pa over, Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, that of Trumpets, . 3. Christian: To put down a festival once established in any faith is almost impo ible; it may be transformed but not extinguished. The early mi ionaries finding this to be the case, christian i zed the feasts they could not destroy, and many Christian festivals nearly or quite agree in time with ethnic ones of greater antiquity. The same proce had taken place in India ages before: the Aryans, having failed to eradicate various Turanian festivals, had to give them a Brahminic varnish, and adopt them into the Hindoo faith. Of the joyous festivals existing at the time of the Reformation, some immovable and some movable festivals have been retained. The former are Christmas Day, the Circumcision, the Epiphany, Candle mas or the Purification, Lady Day or the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, and the various Saints' Day. Of the latter are Easter, the time of which fixes all the rest, Ascension Day, Whitsun Day, and Trinity Sunday. (1) Crabb thus discriminates between feast , banquet , carousal , entertainment , and treat : "A feast may be given by princes or their subjects, by nobility or commonalty; the banquet is confined to men of high estate, and more commonly supposes indulgence of the appetite, both in eating and drinking, but not intemperately; a carousal is confined mostly to drinking, and that to an exce : a feast , therefore, is always a good thing, unle it ends in a carousal ; a feast may be given by one or many, at private or public expense; but an enter tainment and a treat are altogether personal acts, and the terms are never used but in relation to the agents; a treat is given by way of favor to those whom one wishes to oblige; a nobleman provides an entertainment for a particular party whom he has invited; he gives a treat to his servants, his tenants, his tradespeople, or the poor of his neighborhood. Feast , entertainment, and treat , are taken in a more extended sense, to expre other pleasures besides those of the table; feast retains its signification of a vivid pleasure, such as voluptuaries derive from delicious viands; entertainment and treat retain the idea of being granted by way of courtesy: we speak of a thing as being a feast or high delight; and of a person contributing to one's entertainment, or giving one a treat ; men of a happy temper give and receive entertainment with equal facility; they afford entertainment to their guests by the easy cheerfulne which they impart to everything around them; they in like manner derive entertainment from everything they see, or hear, or observe; a treat is given or received only on particular occasions; it depends on the relative circumstances and tastes of the giver and receiver; to one of a musical turn one may give a treat by inviting him to a musical party.' (2) He thus discriminates between feast , festival , and holiday : “ Feast as a technical term is applied only to certain specified holidays : a holiday is an indefinite term, it may be employed for any day or time in which there is a suspension of busine ; there are, therefore, many feasts which are no holi days, and many holidays where there are no feasts : a feast is altogether sacred; a holiday has frequently nothing sacred in it, nor even in its cause; it may be a simple, ordinary transaction, the act of an individual; a festival has always either a sacred or a serious object. A feast is kept by religious worship; a holiday is kept by idlene ; a festival is kept by mirth and festivity: some feasts are festivals , as in the case of the carnival at Rome; some fest i vals are holidays , as in the case of weddings and public thanksgivings." (Crabb: Eng. Synon.)