repast

noun

1. (archaic, countable, literary, uncountable)A meal.

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

   “Forthwith from dance to ſweet repaſt they turn / Deſirous, all in Circles as they ſtood, / Tables are ſet, and on a ſudden pil'd / With Angels Food, and rubied Nectar flows: […]”

   “The Winter comes, and then the falling Maſt, / For greedy Swine, provides a full repaſt.”

   “We pitch'd our little Camp here, and ſet down to our Repaſt; for I found, that tho' we were to go back to lodge, yet my Patron had taken care we ſhould be furniſhed ſufficiently for Dinner, and have a good Houſe to eat it in; that is to ſay, a Tent, as before.”

   “Earth's coarsest bread, the garden's homeliest roots, / And scarce the summer luxury of fruits, / His short repast in humbleness supply / With all a hermit's board would scarce deny.”

2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)A period of refreshment or rest.

   “[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.”

3. (archaic, countable, uncountable)Food or drink that may be consumed as a meal.

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

   “In honour therefore of the Sunne, and for ſuſtenance of his Chariot-beaſts, they carefully waſh the carkaſſes of their dead, and lay them forth in the night, for repaſt vnto the Tigres, wearied with their long and late iourney in the day.”

   “[T]hey return, and howle and gnaw / My Bowels, their repaſt; […]”

   “Go therefore, half this day as friend with friend / Converſe with Adam, in what Bowre or ſhade / Thou find'ſt him from the heat of Noon retir'd, / To reſpit his day-labour with repaſt, / Or with repoſe; […]”

   “Sleep that is thy beſt repaſt, / Yet of Death it bears a taſt, / And both are the ſame thing at laſt.”

4. (archaic, countable, figuratively, uncountable)Something that is intellectually or spiritually nourishing.

   “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.”

   “Gao[ler]. Come Sir, are you ready for death? / Poſt[humus]. Ouer-roaſted rather: ready long ago. / Gao. Hanging is the word, Sir, if you bee readie for that, you are well Cook'd. / Poſt. So if I proue a good repaſt to the Spectators, the diſh payes the ſhot.”

   “He ſucks intelligence in ev'ry clime, / And ſpreads the honey of his deep reſearch / At his return, a rich repaſt for me.”

5. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)The consumption of food; also, refreshment obtained from eating; (generally) refreshment; rest.

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

   “I do dine today at the fathers of a certaine pupill of mine, where if (before repaſt) it ſhall pleaſe you to gratifie the table with a Grace, I will on my priuiledge I haue with the parentes of the foreſaid childe or pupill, vndertake your bien venuto, where I will proue thoſe Verſes to be very vnlearned, neither fauoring of Poetrie, wit, nor inuention.”

   “The other [room] was termed Triclinium, that is, Three beds encompaſſing a table, as may be ſeen in the figures thereof, and particularly in the Rhamnuſian Triclinium, ſet down by Mercurialis [Girolamo Mercuriale?]. The cuſtomary uſe hereof was probably deduced from the frequent uſe of bathing, after which they commonly retired to bed, and refected themſelves with repaſt; […]”

   “[H]ow inconſiſtent is it with his gravity and goodneſs, to couple a ſpiritual grace with matters of corporeal repaſt: […]”

   “The Day already half his Race had run, / And ſummon'd him to due Repaſt at Noon, / But Love could feel no Hunger but his own.”

verb

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

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

   “The top-leaves and oldeſt would be gathered laſt of all, as being moſt proper to repaſt the worms with towards their laſt change.”

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

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

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

   “[O]n arrival of the dinner-hour, repasteth on domestic fare, (making especial mention of certain fishes, and concluding with cheese,) […]”