ceremony








noun, plural cer·e·mo·nies.

  1. the formal activities conducted on some solemn or important public or state occasion: the coronation ceremony.
  2. a formal religious or sacred observance; a solemn rite: a marriage ceremony.
  3. formal observances or gestures collectively; ceremonial observances: The breathless messenger had no time for ceremony.
  4. any formal act or observance, especially a meaningless one: His low bow was mere ceremony.
  5. a gesture or act of politeness or civility: the ceremony of a handshake.
  6. strict adherence to conventional forms; formality: to leave a room without ceremony.
Idioms

  1. stand on ceremony, to behave in a formal or ceremonious manner.

noun plural -nies

  1. a formal act or ritual, often set by custom or tradition, performed in observation of an event or anniversarya ceremony commemorating Shakespeare’s birth
  2. a religious rite or series of rites
  3. a courteous gesture or actthe ceremony of toasting the Queen
  4. ceremonial observances or gestures collectivelythe ceremony of a monarchy
  5. stand on ceremony to insist on or act with excessive formality
  6. without ceremony in a casual or informal manner
n.

late 14c., cerymonye, from Old French ceremonie and directly from Medieval Latin ceremonia, from Latin caerimonia “holiness, sacredness; awe; reverent rite, sacred ceremony,” an obscure word, possibly of Etruscan origin, or a reference to the ancient rites performed by the Etruscan pontiffs at Caere, near Rome. Introduced in English by Wyclif.

see stand on (ceremony).

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