ceremony Hear it!

ceremony Definition

cer·emony (ser′ə mō′nē; chiefly Brit, -mə nē)

noun pl. -·nies

  1. a formal act or set of formal acts established by custom or authority as proper to a special occasion, such as a wedding, religious rite, etc.
  2. the service or function at which such acts are performed
  3. a conventionally courteous or polite act
  4. behavior that follows rigid etiquette or a prescribed form
    1. formality or formalities
    2. empty or meaningless formality, or an act suggesting this

Etymology: ME cerimonie < L caerimonia, awe, reverent rite, ceremony; prob. < Etr

ceremony Idioms

stand on ceremony

to behave with or insist on formality

ceremony Synonyms

ceremony

n.

  1. A public event

    function, commemoration, services; see celebration 1, 2.

  2. A formal act

    ritual, rite, observance, service, solemnity, formality, ceremonial, custom, tradition, liturgy, ordinance, sacrament, liturgical practice, protocol, etiquette, politeness, decorum, propriety, preciseness, strictness, nicety, formalism, ceremoniousness, convention, conventionality, usage, prescription, incantation, mummery.

ceremony refers to a formal, usually solemn, act established as proper to some religious or state occasion the ceremony of launching a ship; rite refers to the prescribed form for a religious ceremony or procedure burial rites; ritual refers to rites or ceremonies collectively, esp. to the rites of a particular religion the ritual of voodooism, and in extended use is applied to a regularly repeated act or series of acts performed in a set, ceremonial manner bedtime rituals; formality suggests a conventional, often meaningless, act or custom, usually one associated with social activity the formalities of polite conversation

stand on ceremony

follow protocol, follow etiquette, be formal, observe formalities, insist on formality, insist on etiquette, be ceremonious; see also behave 2.

ceremony Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • sacrament: Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage This Ceremony consists of several key parts.

Converse of object

  • glitter: Around 750 people attended the glittering ceremony on Monday May 10.
  • attend: Yet there are people who actually attend the ceremony in carriages where the plain white robes have been hung up instead of proper blinds.
  • perform: Her Majesty the Queen has been invited to perform an official opening ceremony in the summer.
  • hold: You are welcome to hold a wedding ceremony conducted by a minister at the hotel.
  • unveil: Chief Constable Matt Baggott officially opened the room with a plaque unveiling ceremony in June 2005.
  • conduct: You are welcome to hold a wedding ceremony conducted by a minister at the hotel.

Preposition: at

  • Guildhall: On 9th April 2005, The Prince of Wales and Mrs Parker Bowles were married in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor.

Adjective modifier

  • civil: In which case for the marriage to be valid a civil ceremony is required prior to the religious ceremony.
  • prize-giving: The prizes are presented at the School's annual Prize-giving ceremony in November.
  • prestigious: This prestigious ceremony was hosted by HC2000, Europe's largest, most comprehensive health informatics event.
  • non-religious: On Holocaust Memorial Day itself there will be a non-religious ceremony at the Holywell Music Room.
  • religious: There are two ways of getting married in Scotland, by a religious ceremony or a civil ceremony.
  • lavish: She rallied hundreds of donors and helped organize a lavish ceremony.

Noun used with modifier

  • graduation: The graduation ceremony took place on Fidel Castro's birthday.
  • opening: The last time we saw a superb opening ceremony was in Turin for the Winter Olympics.
  • award: The awards ceremony is being held in the London on Thursday 12 October 2006.
  • wedding: You are welcome to hold a wedding ceremony conducted by a minister at the hotel.
  • closing: Performed at the closing ceremony of the World Expo 2000, Hannover.
  • marriage: What that indicates is there was a marriage ceremony.
ceremony Quotes

Ceremony, circus, farce, melodrama, tragedy†nothing else offers all at once the whirl, the excitement, the gaiety, the intrigue and the anguish.

—Schlesinger, Arthur M(eier),Jr

Ceremony is an invention to take off the uneasy feeling which we derive from knowing ourselves to be less the object of love and esteem with a fellow-creature than some other person is. It endeavours to make up, by superior attentions in little points, for that invidious preference which it is forced to deny in the greater.

—Lamb, Charles

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

—James, Henry

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. SeeAchebe 2:18.

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

Surelyarchitecture is the organization for pleasure of enclosed space. And what more magnificent enclosure than a town, a place, a place where the spirit is cuddled, made serene, made proud, happy, or excited depending on the ceremony, the day, the hour.

—Johnson, Philip Cortelyou

A man of your head and hair should owe more to that reverend ceremony, and not mountthemarriage bed like atown-bull, ora mountain-goat; but stay the dueseason and ascend it then with religion and fear.

—Jonson, Ben