regale
See also: Regale, régalé, régale, and regalé
English
WOTD – 30 May 2007
Etymology
From French régaler (“to entertain, feast”), from Old French regale, rigale, from gale (“merriment”), probably of Germanic origin (see Old French galer). Influenced by Old French se rigoler (“amuse oneself, rejoice”), of unknown origin. Compare Middle High German begalen (“to charm; enchant”), English gale (“to sing; charm”). Compare also English gala.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɹɪˈɡeɪl/, /ɹəˈɡeɪl/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪl
Noun
regale (plural regales)
- (rare) A feast, a meal.
- 1791, Homer; W[illiam] Cowper, transl., “[The Odyssey.] Book I.”, in The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume II, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], OCLC 779243096, lines 172 and 174–177, page 9:
- And now a maiden […] ſupplied them, next, / With a reſplendent table, which the chaſte / Directreſs of the ſtores furniſh'd with bread / And dainties, remnants of the laſt regale.
- 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], OCLC 24531354, page 136:
- The noise from the servants' hall was rendered more acutely painful by her headach; for her aunt, partly with a view of annoying her niece, whom she disliked—as we always dislike those we have used ill—had left orders for a general regale.
-
- (archaic) a choice article of food or drink.
- (archaic) refreshment.
Translations
feast, meal — see feast, meal
Verb
regale (third-person singular simple present regales, present participle regaling, simple past and past participle regaled)
- (transitive) To please or entertain (someone). [from 17th c.]
- 2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 7 December 2017:
- You’ve Got Mail is certainly the basic model for the plot, which finds corporate candy shill Joel ([Paul] Rudd) and indie-sweetshop owner Molly ([Amy] Poehler) regaling their dinner companions with the very long, digressive story of how they met and fell in love.
-
- (transitive) To provide hospitality for (someone); to supply with abundant food and drink. [from 17th c.]
- (obsolete, intransitive) To feast (on, with something). [17th–19th c.]
- 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, V:
- she hardly lets a Week pass without making the Lady Abbess and her Nuns a Visit, to regale with a Cup of burnt Brandy.
- 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, V:
- (figurative, transitive) To entertain with something that delights; to gratify; to refresh.
- to regale the taste, the eye, or the ear
Translations
to please someone with entertainment
|
to provide a meal and entertainment
|
Anagrams
- Alegre, Eargle, Legare, Reagle, aleger
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin rēgālem. Doublet of reale, which came via Old French.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /reˈɡa.le/
- Rhymes: -ale
- Hyphenation: re‧gà‧le
Adjective
regale (plural regali)
- pertaining to a king or kingdom; royal, regal
Related terms
- re
- regalismo
- regalità
- regalmente
Further reading
- regale1 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Anagrams
- algere, galere, gelare, gelerà, legare, relega
Latin
Adjective
rēgāle
- nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of rēgālis
References
- regale in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /rɛˈɡa.lɛ/
- Rhymes: -alɛ
- Syllabification: re‧ga‧le
Noun
regale m
- locative singular of regał
- vocative singular of regał
Spanish
Verb
regale
- inflection of regalar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
- second-person singular voseo imperative of regar combined with le