n.
(pl. ceremonies)
- a formal religious or public occasion, typically celebrating a particular event or achievement.
▸an act or series of acts performed according to a traditional or prescribed form.
- the ritual procedures observed at grand formal occasions:
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the new Queen was proclaimed with due ceremony.
Phrase
- stand on ceremony
insist on the observance of formalities. - without ceremony
without preamble or politeness.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. ceremonie or L. caerimonia ‘religious worship’, (pl.) ‘ritual observances’.
