CEREMONIAL

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A formal event performed on a special occasion

Example:

a ceremony commemorating Pearl Harbor

Synonyms:

ceremonial; ceremonial occasion; ceremony; observance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("ceremonial" is a kind of...):

affair; function; occasion; social function; social occasion (a vaguely specified social event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ceremonial"):

circumstance (formal ceremony about important occasions)

funeral; obsequy (a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated)

hymeneals; nuptials; wedding; wedding ceremony (the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed)

pageant; pageantry (a rich and spectacular ceremony)

dedication (a ceremony in which something (as a building) is dedicated to some goal or purpose)

opening (a ceremony accompanying the start of some enterprise)

commemoration; memorialisation; memorialization (a ceremony to honor the memory of someone or something)

military ceremony (a formal ceremony performed by military personnel)

induction; initiation; installation (a formal entry into an organization or position or office)

exercise ((usually plural) a ceremony that involves processions and speeches)

fire walking (the ceremony of walking barefoot over hot stones or a bed of embers)

formalities; formality (a requirement of etiquette or custom)

Maundy (a public ceremony on Maundy Thursday when the monarch distributes Maundy money)

potlatch (a ceremonial feast held by some Indians of the northwestern coast of North America (as in celebrating a marriage or a new accession) in which the host gives gifts to tribesmen and others to display his superior wealth (sometimes, formerly, to his own impoverishment))

Derivation:

ceremonial (marked by pomp or ceremony or formality)