banquet vs meal

banquet and meal both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
banquet	Yes	No	Yes	No
meal	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, meal is a hypernym of banquet; that is, meal is a word with a broader meaning than banquet:

Other hypernyms of banquet include repast.

banquet (noun)	meal (noun)
a meal that is well prepared and greatly enjoyed	the food served and eaten at one time
a ceremonial dinner party for many people	coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal grasses or pulse
	any of the occasions for eating food that occur by custom or habit at more or less fixed times

banquet (verb)	meal (verb)
partake in a feast or banquet
provide a feast or banquet for