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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The event was the first major fete since Trump took over the venue, but O’Brien was selected by the previous regime, then led by its chairman, David Rubenstein and president, Deborah Rutter, both ousted by Trump. Ted Johnson, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2025 Hot on the heels of his Fashion Week fete, Kors was clinking glasses this time around due to his brand making its official debut on Amazon earlier that day. Freya Drohan, Vogue, 19 Mar. 2025
Verb
Talk show veteran Conan O’Brien was feted with the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Sunday in a lively production that blended accolades from numerous colleagues with occasional jabs at the Trump administration by participants — included the evening’s honoree. Paul Harris, Variety, 24 Mar. 2025 The commander of Apollo 15, Scott walked on the moon, returned to Earth, and a few days later was feted by his neighbors at a welcome-home cookout. Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 18 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fete

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

Cite this Entry

“Fete.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fete. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

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
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!