Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To provide with great enjoyment; entertain. synonym: amuse.
  • intransitive verb To entertain sumptuously with food and drink; provide a feast for.
  • intransitive verb To feast.
  • noun A great feast.
  • noun A choice food; a delicacy.
  • noun Refreshment.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A choice repast; a regalement, entertainment, or treat; a carouse.
  • To entertain sumptuously or delightfully; feast or divert with that which is highly pleasing; gratify, as the senses: as, to regale the taste, the eye, or the ear.
  • To feast; have pleasure or diversion.
  • noun A privilege, prerogative, or right of property pertaining to the sovereign of a state by virtue of his office.
  • noun In ecclesiastical history, the power of the sovereign in ecclesiastical affairs.
  • noun plural Ensigns of royalty; the apparatus of a coronation, as the crown, scepter, etc.
  • noun plural The insignia, decorations, or “jewels” of an order, as of the Freemasons.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To feast; t� fare sumtuously.
  • noun rare A prerogative of royalty.
  • transitive verb To enerta�n in a regal or sumptuous manner; to enrtertain with something that delights; to gratify; to refresh.
  • noun A sumptuous repast; a banquet.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To provide a meal and entertainment for someone.
  • verb transitive To please someone with entertainment.
  • noun A feast, meal.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb provide with choice or abundant food or drink

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French régaler, from Old French regal, feast, from gale (influenced by se rigoler, to amuse oneself), from galer, to make merry.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French régaler.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French régale, from Latin rēgāle, from rēgālis

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word regale.

Examples

  • Buy should the CHICKS (I’ll use that loosely), wish to hail me, regale is perhaps better suited, regale me as Havsy, then I guess I can find it within my magnanimous in victory, balanced and carefree fun loving nature to permit it. ya gotta throw the minions something every now and then.

    Cheeseburger Gothic » That went well. 2010

  • The meeting of the clergy had been called forth by the eternal discussions of the civil power with the court of Rome on the question of the rights of regale, that is to say, the rights of the sovereign to receive the revenues of vacant bishoprics, and to appoint to benefices belonging to them.

    A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 5 1830

  • An extra allowance of rum, and a little flour to make cakes and puddings, constitute a "regale;" and they forget all their toils and troubles in the song and dance.

    Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains 1836

  • An extra allowance of rum, and a little flour to make cakes and puddings, constitute a "regale;" and they forget all their toils and troubles in the song and dance.

    Astoria, or, anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains Washington Irving 1821

  • Those who have but an indifferent banquet to offer, are not usually inclined to discourage their guests, by a repulsive bill of fare; yet surely, when a public invitation is given, there is honesty, and prudence too, in simply stating the kind of regale we are going to spread, lest a palled and sickly appetite should expect stimulants, or a perverted taste should pine for foreign luxuries and modern cookery, when we have nothing to set before them but plain old English food.

    The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 An Historical Novel Jane West 1805

  • Days after Berlusconi told a youth rally an apparent joke about Adolf Hitler, he emerged from his Rome residence on 29 September to regale supporters with a joke about a Jew who charges fellow Jews money to hide in his basement from the Nazis, without telling them the war is over.

    Silvio Berlusconi condemned by Vatican newspaper for 'deplorable' jokes Tom Kington in Rome 2010

  • My job was to regale clients according to their interests or profession.

    The Roach Andrew Bowen 2010

  • Mr. Cook will regale you with endless visual feasts.

    Ares Costs: Just Pick a Number - NASA Watch 2009

  • Apparently, besides being the reason she was invited to so many workshops and writers colony, it was the highlight of the their time there for other attendees --- the poet would announce ahead of time which of the older male poets she intended to go down on and then afterwards, late at night, around the campfire, as it were, regale people with the details.

    Lance Mannion: 2010

  • Apparently, besides being the reason she was invited to so many workshops and writers colony, it was the highlight of the their time there for other attendees --- the poet would announce ahead of time which of the older male poets she intended to go down on and then afterwards, late at night, around the campfire, as it were, regale people with the details.

    Dirty sexy naked poets 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • (fd) Second wind

    (Thanks Chris Doyle)

    January 24, 2008

  • Gangerh, who is this Chris Doyle person--and why hasn't he/she been dragged kicking and screaming onto Wordie? ;-)

    January 24, 2008

  • He posts on several forums I am/was a member of, if that is the Chris Doyle being referred to.

    Chris at the OEDILF

    January 24, 2008

  • Wow, thanks seanahan--I'd never heard of the OEDILF. A bunch of people who write weird bits of language to each other all day? What oddballs!

    January 24, 2008

  • I wonder what they say about us?

    I'll avoid the obvious (but very tempting) pun on ILF...

    January 24, 2008

  • Chris Doyle was the Grand Prize Winner of OMNI magazine's Competition #44 Fractured Definitions (for words beginning with the letters P,Q,R,and S). He won a Franklin Computer Spelling Ace and $250! He is from Burke, VA. It was sometime in the '80s. OMNI was a wonderful magazine published by Bob Guccione (of Penthouse fame) which is no longer, sadly. I felt I ought to credit my sources.

    I have posted all four of his entry under the list 'fractured definitions' and am opening this list up for anyone to submit to.

    January 24, 2008

  • Chris Doyle is also a regular loser on the Style Invitational, the Washington Post's weekly humor contest that has a vendetta against me personally not that I'm bitter.

    January 24, 2008

  • Skipvia and John, you must have short memories--or you missed a good comment thread. See aberdevine. :-)

    Gangerh, thanks for the info--good of you to give credit where it's due. Haven't been to the OEDILF site in a while.

    January 24, 2008

  • Missed that one, reesetee. Sometimes the comments are so numerous that they just get away from me.

    Hurray for chained_bear, though. You've got to go for the ILF pun...

    January 24, 2008

  • You two are too much alike. It's scary. ;-)

    January 25, 2008

  • One could also see the entry for OEDILF.

    January 25, 2008

  • will often come up to him and regale him with stories not of his actual football feats

    January 11, 2011