ceremony

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   any activity that is performed in an especially solemn elaborate or formal way

   the ceremony of smelling the cork and tasting the wine

2. 2
   noun

   the proper or conventional behavior on some solemn occasion

   an inaugural ceremony

3. 3
   noun

   a formal event performed on a special occasion

   a ceremony commemorating Pearl Harbor

4. 4
   noun

   A ritual, with religious or cultural significance.

   To whom the Priest with naked armes full net Approching nigh, and murdrous knife well whet, Gan mutter close a certaine secret charme, With other diuelish ceremonies met:

5. 5
   noun

   An official gathering to celebrate, commemorate, or otherwise mark some event.

   a graduation ceremony, an opening ceremony

6. 6
   noun

   A formal socially established behaviour, often in relation to people of different ranks; formality.

   […] to feed were best at home; From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony; Meeting were bare without it.

7. 7
   noun

   Show of magnificence, display, ostentation.

   Meanwhile the winged Heralds, by command Of sovereign power, with awful ceremony And trumpet’s sound, throughout the host proclaim A solemn council forthwith to be held At Pandemonium […]

8. 8
   noun

   An accessory or object associated with a ritual.

   […] his ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man […]

Etymology

From Middle English cerymonye, from Latin caerimonia or caeremonia, later often cerimonia (“sacredness, reverence, a sacred rite”).