ceremony

Noun

ceremony (countable and uncountable, plural ceremonies or (Early Modern) ceremonys)

1. 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:1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, pages 463-464
   • In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep [the passover] in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 9:3
2. An official gathering to celebrate, commemorate, or otherwise mark some event.
   • a graduation ceremony, an opening ceremony
   • Promontory's "last spike" ceremony was so significant to the USA's history that it is still regularly re-enacted today, using replica locomotives that nose up to each other just as the originals did.2025 November 12, Tony Streeter, “All around the world”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 42
   1. A wedding ceremony; a marriage.
3. (uncountable) 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.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
   • Monsieur Bridet, notwithstanding his costume and his evident harrassment [sic], found in himself the presence of mind to remain the attentive manager, and with ceremony effected the proper introduction.1928, W. Somerset Maugham, “Miss King”, in Ashenden, New York: Avon, published 1943, page 37
4. (uncountable) 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 […]1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
   • Immediately after her arrival, the queen rode forth to survey the camp and its environs: wherever she went, she was attended by a splendid retinue; and all the commanders vied with each other, in the pomp and ceremony with which they received her.1829, Washington Irving, chapter 46, in A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, volume II, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, page 254
5. (obsolete) An accessory or object associated with a ritual.
   • […] his ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man […]1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
   • […] Well, believe this,
     No ceremony that to great ones ’longs,
     Not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword,
     The marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe,
     Become them with one half so good a grace
     As mercy does.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
6. (obsolete) An omen or portent.
   • For he is superstitious grown of late,
     Quite from the main opinion he held once
     Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
   • Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,
     Yet now they fright me.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...