1.
feast; treat; lavish meal
A sumptuous meal prepared for guests. Almost always used today with the honorific prefix ご- as ご馳走; the bare form 馳走 is rare and feels literary or archaic.
客に馳走を用意した。
I prepared a feast for the guests.
今夜はご馳走を食べに行こう。
Let's go eat a nice meal tonight.
母は家族の誕生日に必ずご馳走を作ってくれる。
My mother always prepares a feast for family members' birthdays.
Etymology: literally 'running about' — 馳 (to gallop) + 走 (to run). The original sense was the host running around to procure ingredients for a guest's meal, and over time the word shifted to mean the resulting feast itself.
USAGE: The bare form 馳走 is largely confined to written or formal contexts. In everyday speech, the prefixed forms dominate:
- ご馳走: a feast, a treat
- ご馳走様: thank you for the meal (said after eating)
- ご馳走する: to treat (someone to a meal)
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- ご馳走になる: to be treated to a meal
- ご馳走を並べる: to set out a feast
- お正月のご馳走: New Year's feast