Definition: Agape

Photo: Agape, acrylic by Ron Waddams (1920 - ).

1. Meals that the early Christians shared together in churches.

"You see that communion was universal, like the meals called agapes." (François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon, vol. XVII, p. 505).

"Regular benefits owe their origin to agapes." (François René Chateaubriand, Génie, IV, III, 2)

"When preparing the agape meal, the best dishes must be sent to the bishop." (Voltaire, Phil. II, 225)

The agapes of the early Christians.

2. (By extension - Figurative) Meals shared among friends or people associated for a common purpose.

Fraternal agapes. Sumptuous agapes.