Related Searches
on Ask.com
Browse Nearby Entries
pageant
7 dictionary results for: Pageant
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
pag·eant 
[paj-uhnt] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[paj-uhnt] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | an elaborate public spectacle illustrative of the history of a place, institution, or the like, often given in dramatic form or as a procession of colorful floats. |
| 2. | a costumed procession, masque, allegorical tableau, or the like forming part of public or social festivities. |
| 3. | a show or exhibition, esp. one consisting of a succession of participants or events: a beauty pageant. |
| 4. | something comparable to a procession in colorful variety, splendor, or grandeur: the pageant of Renaissance history. |
| 5. | a pretentious display or show that conceals a lack of real importance or meaning. |
| 6. | (in medieval times) a platform or stage, usually moving on wheels, on which scenes from mystery plays were presented. |
| 7. | display or pageantry. |
| 8. | Obsolete. a stage bearing any kind of spectacle. |
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME pagyn, pagaunt, pagand < AL pāgina a stage for plays, scene, platform, perh. special use of L pāgina page1]
] —Related forms
pag·eant·eer, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| pag·eant
(pāj'ənt) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English pagin, pagent, moveable stage for a mystery play, mystery play, alteration of Medieval Latin pāgina, probably from Latin, page; see pag- in Indo-European roots.] |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
pageant
pageant
c.1380, "play in a cycle of mystery plays," from M.L. pagina, perhaps from L. pagina "page of a book" (see page (1)) on notion of "manuscript" of a play. But an early sense in M.E. also was "stage or scene of a play" (1392) and Klein says a sense of L. pagina was "moveable scaffold" (probably from the etymological sense of "stake"). With excrescent -t as in ancient (q.v.). Generalized sense of "showy parade, spectacle" is first attested 1805, though this notion is found in pageantry (1651).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| pageant | |
noun | |
| 1. | an elaborate representation of scenes from history etc; usually involves a parade with rich costumes |
| 2. | a rich and spectacular ceremony |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Pageant
Pag"eant\ (p[a^]j"ent or p[=a]"jent; 277), n. [OE. pagent, pagen, originally, a movable scaffold or stage, hence, what was exhibited on it, fr. LL. pagina, akin to pangere to fasten; cf. L. pagina page, leaf, slab, compaginare to join together, compages a joining together, structure. See Pact, Page of a book.]1. A theatrical exhibition; a spectacle. "A pageant truly played." --Shak. To see sad pageants of men's miseries. --Spenser. 2. An elaborate exhibition devised for the entertainmeut of a distinguished personage, or of the public; a show, spectacle, or display. The gaze of fools, and pageant of a day ! --Pope. We love the man, the paltry pageant you. --Cowper.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Pageant
Pag"eant\, a. Of the nature of a pageant; spectacular. "Pageant pomp." --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Pageant
Pag"eant\, v. t. To exhibit in show; to represent; to mimic. [R.] "He pageants us." --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Share This:
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.