Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English ceremonie < Medieval Latin cēremōnia, Latin caerimōnia sacred rite; replacing Middle English cerymonye < Middle French cerimonie < Latin, as above

Related forms

pre·cer·e·mo·ny, noun, plural -nies.

Synonyms
1, 2. Ceremony, rite, ritual refer to set observances and acts traditional in religious services or on public occasions. Ceremony applies to more or less formal dignified acts on religious or public occasions: a marriage ceremony; an inaugural ceremony. A rite is an established, prescribed, or customary form of religious or other solemn practice: the rite of baptism. Ritual refers to the form of conducting worship or to a code of ceremonies in general: Masonic rituals.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To ceremony

Example Sentences

Millions crowded into the mall to watch the ceremony.

We often downplay the importance of ceremony and ritual in university life.

The plans for the opening ceremony also show what a good networker the place is.

EXPAND

Millions crowded into the mall to watch the ceremony.

We often downplay the importance of ceremony and ritual in university life.

The plans for the opening ceremony also show what a good networker the place is.

Of all the high-ranking samurai's cultural pursuits, none infatuated them as much as the tea ceremony.

The hangar-dedication ceremony is the latest in a string of opening events for the spaceport.

The dress depicts not only horses and their tracks but also the rectangular drums used at the giveaway ceremony.

It's best to start arranging the bride's bouquet three hours before the ceremony begins.

Link's the favorite to win the chance to appear in the ensuing ceremony with the headmaster's daughter.

The monks obliged, he said, but they also expressed their displeasure by talking loudly to one another during the ceremony.

They laughed that he recently skipped an award ceremony because not enough people were going to see him accept the award.

Have the ceremony and reception in the same place to eliminate unnecessary travel.

Two others at a different ceremony walked away with it.

In antiquity, killing a jaguar was often part of a religious ceremony or a mark of status.

Garriott's parents and his brother were on hand to razz him during the ceremony as well.

Beijing's airport, one of the world's busiest, was already closed during the ceremony in a previously planned precaution.

My brother is getting married next month to a wonderful girl and they asked me to do a reading at the ceremony.

The use of animals in military ceremony and warfare has always interested me.

Some cultures have age-old traditions that introduce babies to the community by way of a naming ceremony.

But as the ceremony today shows, the probe's symbolic importance perhaps rivals its scientific value.

Turner also declined to accept an honorary doctor-of-human-letters degree, which he was supposed to receive at the ceremony.

Even to the point of wanting to formalize this relationship with a ceremony similar to marriage.

The photographers went to the field for the ceremony.

Waving the haraigushi over my phone is part of the blessing ceremony.

Below see archival footage of the parade of cars and other celebrants took to the new bridge on opening ceremony.

The ceremony was performed in the home of the bridegroom's uncle and.

Ten months of dither then followed, in which arranging a signing ceremony seemed about as.

The ceremony was quiet and dignified and unmarred by disorder.

It should also take place in a public ceremony watched by other men, to avoid cheating or free-riding.

She led the day's ceremony as a gesture of reconciliation.

The recipients will receive their awards at a ceremony later this year.

But straight couples have the choice of a civil or a religious ceremony whereas gays are stuck with an underwhelming secular one.

These unfortunates were needed to fill a central role in the sacrifice ceremony that followed battle.

We're looking forward to the possible live twittering of the wedding ceremony.

She could not take part in the ceremony while still continuing as the living goddess.

Bohlin knew he'd been selected and sent two stepsons to the ceremony.

The rebuilding marked by this ceremony has been digital.

Dorothy is too distraught to attend the ceremony herself.

Integral to that hospitality is the coffee ceremony.

That's where the catchy phrase in the ceremony comes from.

Sorry for my opinion but i completely dimnished the meaning of whole ceremony of weeding.

Weekly photos of environment, celebration, and ceremony from around the world.

Mounting a graduation ceremony is an intricate logistical exercise which becomes more difficult with size.

Or, if you've recently gone through gallbladder removal, if there was a little more ceremony before they pulled it out.

Priests who go through the initiation ceremony are excused from the catechism questions lest they answer something incorrectly.

The graduates had convened, physically, for the first time for a special graduation ceremony.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

ceremony (ˈsɛrɪmənɪ)

—n , pl -nies
1.	a formal act or ritual, often set by custom or tradition, performed in observation of an event or anniversary: a ceremony commemorating Shakespeare's birth
2.	a religious rite or series of rites
3.	a courteous gesture or act: the ceremony of toasting the Queen
4.	ceremonial observances or gestures collectively: the ceremony of a monarchy
5.	stand on ceremony to insist on or act with excessive formality
6.	without ceremony in a casual or informal manner

[C14: from Medieval Latin cēremōnia, from Latin caerimōnia what is sacred, a religious rite]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ceremony

late 14c., from M.L. ceremonia, from L. cærimonia "awe, reverent rite," an obscure word, possibly of Etruscan origin, or a reference to the ancient rites performed by the Etruscan pontiffs at Caere, near Rome. Introduced in English by Wyclif.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

ceremony

see stand on (ceremony).

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"Ceremony is the smoke of friendship."

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