Cecil's Fast
Preserved but no longer current.
A dinner off fish. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, chief minister to Queen Elizabeth for nearly forty years, introduced a Bill to enjoin the eating of fish on certain days in order to restore the fish trade.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Cecil's Fast” mean?
A dinner off fish. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, chief minister to Queen Elizabeth for nearly forty years, introduced a Bill to enjoin the eating of fish on certain days in order to restore the fish trade.
Is “Cecil's Fast” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.