pageant

English

Alternative forms

• pageaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

Late 14th c. as Middle English pagent, from Medieval Latin pagina (“play in a cycle of mystery plays”), perhaps from Latin pāgina (“page of a book”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpæd͡ʒənt/

• Audio (UK)

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Noun

pageant (plural pageants)

1. An elaborate public display, especially a parade in historical or traditional costume.

   Synonym: spectacle

   • 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter 4, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 230675575:

     For a few moments the events of the day floated in disastrous pageant through my brain, till sleep bathed it in forgetfulness […]

   • 2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 1, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part I. The New Deal Order, 1930–1980:

     The artists who painted these murals brought the pageant of America vividly to life. Everyone knew that the construction of this pageant, and the celebration of America that it implied, was the work of the New Deal.

2. A spectacular ceremony.
3. Ellipsis of beauty pageant..

   Synonyms: beauty contest, beauty pageant

4. (obsolete) A wheeled platform for the exhibition of plays, etc.

Derived terms

• pageanter
• pageantry
• beauty pageant

Translations

public display

• Bulgarian: парад (bg) m (parad)
• Dutch: optocht (nl) m
• French: cortège (fr) m
• German: Festzug (de) m, Aufzug (de) m, Umzug (de) m, Festumzug (de) m, Spektakel (de) n
• Hungarian: parádé (hu), felvonulás (hu), bemutató (hu), látványosság (hu), díszszemle (hu)
• Italian: parata (it) f, mostra (it) f, esposizione (it) f, esibizione (it) f, spettacolo pubblico m
• Japanese: 野外劇 (やがいげき, yagaigeki)
• Romanian: procesiune (ro) f, cortegiu (ro) n
• Russian: зре́лище (ru) (zrélišče)
• Spanish: muestra (es) f, cabalgata (es) f, comparsa f

spectacular ceremony

• Bulgarian: шествие (bg) n (šestvie)
• Czech: podívaná f
• Dutch: vertoning (nl) f, spektakel (nl) n
• French: spectacle (fr) m
• Hungarian: ünnepély (hu)
• Italian: cerimonia (it) f
• Romanian: paradă (ro) f
• Russian: предста́вление (ru) (predstávlenije)
• Spanish: espectáculo (es) m, exhibición (es) f, ceremonia (es) f

beauty pageant — see beauty pageant

Verb

pageant (third-person singular simple present pageants, present participle pageanting, simple past and past participle pageanted)

1. To exhibit in show; to represent; to mimic.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iii]:

     He pageants us.

Anagrams

• Napgate

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Middle English

Noun

pageant

1. Alternative form of pagent