Mov·a·ble a.
1. Capable of being moved, lifted, carried, drawn, turned, or conveyed, or in any way made to change place or posture; susceptible of motion; not fixed or stationary; as, a movable steam engine. [Also spelled moveable.]
Syn: -- transferable, transferrable, transportable.
2. Changing from one time to another; as, movable feasts, i. e., church festivals, the date of which varies from year to year.
Movable letter Heb. Gram., a letter that is pronounced, as opposed to one that is quiescent.
Movable feast Ecclesiastical, a holy day that changes date, depending on the lunar cycle. An example of such a day is Easter.
Feast n.
1. A festival; a holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary.
The seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. --Ex. xiii. 6.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. --Luke ii. 41.
Note: ☞ An Ecclesiastical feast is called a immovable feast when it always occurs on the same day of the year; otherwise it is called a movable feast. Easter is a notable movable feast.
2. A festive or joyous meal; a grand, ceremonious, or sumptuous entertainment, of which many guests partake; a banquet characterized by tempting variety and abundance of food.
Enough is as good as a feast. --Old Proverb.
Belshazzar the King made a great feast to a thousand of his lords. --Dan. v. 1.
3. That which is partaken of, or shared in, with delight; something highly agreeable; entertainment.
The feast of reason, and the flow of soul. --Pope.
Feast day, a holiday; a day set as a solemn commemorative festival.
Syn: -- Entertainment; regale; banquet; treat; carousal; festivity; festival.
Usage: -- Feast, Banquet, Festival, Carousal. A feast sets before us viands superior in quantity, variety, and abundance; a banquet is a luxurious feast; a festival is the joyful celebration by good cheer of some agreeable event. Carousal is unrestrained indulgence in frolic and drink.
movable feast
n : a religious holiday that falls on different dates in
different years [syn: moveable feast]