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Definition of Pageant - 6 dictionary results
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pag⋅eant
[paj-uh
nt] 
–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 page 1
1350–1400; ME pagyn, pagaunt, pagand < AL pāgina a stage for plays, scene, platform, perh. special use of L pāgina page 1
Related forms:
pag⋅eant⋅eer, noun
pa⋅gean⋅tic [puh-jan-tik] , adjective
[puh-jan-tik] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To Pageant
| pag·eant (pāj'ənt) 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.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.Pageant
Pag"eant\, a. Of the nature of a pageant; spectacular. "Pageant pomp." --Dryden.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.
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Language Translation for : Pageant
Spanish:
representación, cuadro, desfile,
German:
das Festspiel,
Japanese:
行列
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
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