n. [ F. diète, LL. dieta, diaeta, an assembly, a day's journey; the same word as diet course of living, but with the sense changed by L. dies day: cf. G. tag day, and Reichstag. ] A legislative or administrative assembly in Germany, Poland, and some other countries of Europe; a deliberative convention; a council; as, the Diet of Worms, held in 1521. Specifically: Any of various national or local assemblies; as, (a) Occasionally, the Reichstag of the German Empire, Reichsrath of the Austrian Empire, the federal legislature of Switzerland, etc. (b) The legislature of Denmark, Sweden, Japan, or Hungary. (c) The state assembly or any of various local assemblies in the states of the German Empire, as the legislature (Landtag) of the kingdom of Prussia, and the Diet of the Circle (Kreistag) in its local government. (d) The local legislature (Landtag) of an Austrian province. (e) The federative assembly of the old Germanic Confederation (1815 -- 66). (f) In the old German or Holy Roman Empire, the great formal assembly of counselors (the Imperial Diet or Reichstag) or a small, local, or informal assembly of a similar kind (the Court Diet, or Hoftag). The most celebrated Imperial Diets are the three following, all held under Charles V.:
Diet of Worms, 1521, the object of which was to check the Reformation and which condemned Luther as a heretic;
Diet of Spires, or
Diet of Speyer, 1529, which had the same object and issued an edict against the further dissemination of the new doctrines, against which edict Lutheran princes and deputies protested (hence Protestants):
Diet of Augsburg, 1530, the object of which was the settlement of religious disputes, and at which the Augsburg Confession was presented but was denounced by the emperor, who put its adherents under the imperial ban. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. diète, L. diaeta, fr. Gr. &unr_; manner of living. ] 1. Course of living or nourishment; what is eaten and drunk habitually; food; victuals; fare. “No inconvenient diet.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A course of food selected with reference to a particular state of health; prescribed allowance of food; regimen prescribed. [ 1913 Webster ]

To fast like one that takes diet. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Diet kitchen, a kitchen in which diet is prepared for invalids; a charitable establishment that provides proper food for the sick poor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dieted; p. pr. & vb. n. Dieting. ] 1. To cause to take food; to feed. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to eat and drink sparingly, or by prescribed rules; to regulate medicinally the food of. [ 1913 Webster ]

She diets him with fasting every day. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To eat; to take one's meals. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Let him . . . diet in such places, where there is good company of the nation, where he traveleth. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To eat according to prescribed rules; to ear sparingly; as, the doctor says he must diet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who lives in accordance with prescribed rules for diet; a dieter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Dietaries A rule of diet; a fixed allowance of food, as in workhouse, prison, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to diet, or to the rules of diet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who diets; one who prescribes, or who partakes of, food, according to hygienic rules.

{ } a. [ Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. diététique. See Diet. ] Of or performance to diet, or to the rules for regulating the kind and quantity of food to be eaten. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a dietetical manner. [ 1913 Webster ]