ceremony

English

Alternative forms

• cæremony, cærimony (both archaic)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛɹɪməni/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛɹəmoʊni/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cer‧e‧mo‧ny

Noun

ceremony (plural ceremonies)

1. A ritual with religious significance.
2. An official gathering to celebrate, commemorate, or otherwise mark some event.
3. A formal socially established behaviour, often in relation to people of different ranks.
4. (obsolete) An omen or portent.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, II. i. 197:

     For he is superstitious grown of late, / Quite from the main opinion he held once / Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies.

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, II. ii. 14:

     Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, / Yet now they fright me.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• ceremonial
• ceremonially
• ceremonialness
• ceremonious

• ceremoniously
• ceremoniousness
• master of ceremonies
• ramp ceremony

Translations

ritual with religious significance

• Arabic: مَرَاسِم‏‎ m pl (marāsim), طُقُوس‏‎ m pl (ṭuqūs), طَقْس مُقَدِّس‏‎ m (ṭaqs muqaddis)
• Armenian: ծես (hy) (ces)
• Asturian: ceremonia f
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: обряд m (obrjad)
• Catalan: cerimònia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 儀式 (zh), 仪式 (zh) (yíshì)

• Czech: obřad (cs) m
• Danish: ceremoni (da) c
• Dutch: ceremonie (nl) f, plechtigheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: ceremonio
• Estonian: tseremoonia (et)
• Finnish: seremonia
• French: cérémonie (fr) f
• Galician: cerimonia (gl) f
• Georgian: ცერემონია (ceremonia), წესჩვეულება (c̣esčveuleba)
• German: Zeremonie (de) f
• Greek: τελετή (el) f (teletí)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: upacara (id), seremoni (id)
• Italian: cerimonia (it) f
• Japanese: 儀式 (ja) (ぎしき, gishiki), 式典 (しきてん, shikiten)

• Khmer: ពិធី (km) (pi’tʰii)
• Kimaragang: pongadatan
• Korean: 예식 (ko) (yesik), 의식 (ko) (uisik) [儀式], 식전 (ko) (sikjeon)
• Macedonian: церемонија f (ceremonija)
• Malay: upacara
• Mongolian: ёслол (mn) (joslol)
• Navajo: hatáál
• Norman: cérémonie f
• Portuguese: cerimónia (pt) f (Portugal), cerimônia (pt) f (Brazil)
• Romanian: ceremonie (ro) f
• Russian: церемо́ния (ru) f (ceremónija), обря́д (ru) m (obrjád), ритуа́л (ru) m (rituál)
• Scottish Gaelic: deas-ghnàth m
• Serbo-Croatian: ceremònija (sh) f, svèčanōst (sh) f, òbred (sh) m
• Spanish: ceremonia (es) f
• Swedish: ceremoni (sv) c
• Tagalog: (literally) seremonya, galian
• Telugu: ఉత్సవం (te) (utsavaṃ)
• Thai: พิธี (th) (pí-tii), พิธีกรรม (píteegam)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: seremoni (tr), ayin (tr), tören (tr), merasim (tr)
• Ukrainian: церемонія (uk) f (ceremonija)
• Vietnamese: nghi thức (vi), nghi lễ (vi)

official gathering to celebrate

• Arabic: رَسْمِيَّات‏‎ f pl (rasmiyyāt), مَرَاسِم‏‎ m pl (marāsim), حَفْل‏‎ m (ḥafl)
• Armenian: արարողություն (ararołutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: церемония (bg) f (ceremonija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 典禮 (zh), 典礼 (zh) (diǎnlǐ), (suffix) -式 (zh) (-shì)

• Danish: ceremoni (da) c
• Dutch: ceremonie (nl) f, plechtigheid (nl) f
• Estonian: tseremoonia (et)
• Finnish: seremonia, juhla (fi), juhlallisuudet pl
• French: cérémonie (fr) f
• Georgian: ცერემონია (ceremonia)
• Greek: τελετή (el) f (teletí)
• Hebrew: טקס‏‎ (he) m (t'eqes)
• Icelandic: athöfn (is)

• Italian: cerimonia (it) f
• Japanese: 典礼 (ja) (てんれい, tenrei), (suffix) -式 (ja) (-しき, shiki), セレモニー (seremonī)
• Mongolian: ёслол (mn) (joslol)
• Norman: cérémonie f
• Portuguese: cerimónia (pt) f (Portugal), cerimônia (pt) f (Brazil)
• Romanian: ceremonie (ro) f
• Russian: церемо́ния (ru) f (ceremónija)
• Scottish Gaelic: deas-ghnàth m
• Serbo-Croatian: ceremònija (sh) f, svèčanōst (sh) f
• Spanish: ceremonia (es) f
• Swedish: högtidlighet (sv) c
• Telugu: వేడుక (te) (vēḍuka)
• Turkish: tören (tr), merasim (tr), kutlama (tr)

formal socially-established behaviour

• Arabic: حَفْل رَسْمِيّ‏‎ m (ḥafl rasmiyy)
• Bulgarian: етикет (bg) m (etiket)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 禮節 (zh), 礼节 (zh) (lǐjié), 儀禮 (zh), 仪礼 (zh) (yílǐ)

• Finnish: muodollinen käytös, muodollisuus (fi); kursailu (fi)
• Greek: τελετουργικό (el) n (teletourgikó)
• Japanese: 儀礼 (ja) (ぎれい, girei)

• Portuguese: cerimónia (pt) f (Portugal), cerimônia (pt) f (Brazil)
• Romanian: ceremonie (ro) f
• Russian: этике́т (ru) m (etikét)
• Scottish Gaelic: deas-ghnàth m
• Spanish: ceremonia (es) f
• Thai: พิธีการ (píteegaan)
• Turkish: tören (tr)

Further reading

• ceremony in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• ceremony at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “ceremony” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2017.
• ceremony in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913