ceremony

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a formal event performed on a special occasion
noun any activity that is performed in an especially solemn elaborate or formal way
noun the proper or conventional behavior on some solemn occasion

From Middle English cerymonye, from Latin caerimonia or caeremonia, later often cerimonia (“sacredness, reverence, a sacred rite”).

The ceremony was about to begin. — For the Sake of the School, Angela Brazil
G. obeys mechanically and the ceremony proceeds. — The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition, Rudyard Kipling
May Wright Sewall was the mistress of ceremonies. — Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897, Elizabeth Cady Stanton

ceremonial, ceremonial occasion, observance

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