See Also: ceremony(dictionary)
tea ceremony(encyclopedia)
ceremony(dictionary)

ceremony (iou)



ceremony noun. LME.
[Latin caerimonia religious worship, (in pl.) ritual observances, perh. through Old & mod. French ceremonie: see -MONY.]
An outward rite or observance; the performance of some solemn act according to a prescribed form. LME.
R. W. Emerson They repeated the ceremonies of the eleventh century in the coronation of the present Queen. A. N. Wilson It was not until she herself married that she became aware..that this was a ceremony which her parents had never actually undergone.
b. (A rite regarded as) an empty form; a mere formality. M16.
Robert Burton It is..a meer flash, a ceremony, a toy, a thing of nought.
A formal act of politeness, courtesy, civility, etc. LME.
H. James She went and knocked at his doora ceremony without which she never crossed the threshold.
An object or symbolic attribute of worship, state, or pomp. L16-E18.
A portent, an omen. rare (Shakes.). Only in L16.
(Non-count.) Performance of (religious) rites; ceremonial display; pomp, state; precise observance of conventional forms; punctilious behaviour. L16.
Shakespeare Henry V What have kings that privates have not too, Save ceremony. G. Macdonald I was shown with much ceremony..into the presence of two ladies.
Phrases: Master of Ceremonies a person in charge of ceremonies observed on state or public occasions; a person introducing speakers at a banquet, entertainers in a variety show, etc. sans ceremonie: see SANS preposition. stand on ceremony insist on the observance of formalities. without ceremony informally, casually.