different between ceremonial vs custom

English

Alternative forms

• cæremonial (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English cerymonial, from Latin caerim?ni?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s????mo?ni?l/
• Hyphenation: cer?e?mo?ni?al

Adjective

ceremonial (comparative more ceremonial, superlative most ceremonial)

1. Of, relating to, or used in a ceremony.

   Synonyms: formal, ritual, ritualistic

   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act III, Scene 2,^[1]

     What mockery will it be

     To want the bridegroom when the priest attends

     To speak the ceremonial rites of marriage!

   • 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 179, 3 December, 1751, Volume 6, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, p. 53,^[2]

     His merit introduced him to splendid tables and elegant acquaintance, but he did not find himself always qualified to join in the conversation. He was distressed by civilities, which he knew not how to repay, and entangled in many ceremonial perplexities, from which his books and diagrams could not extricate him.

   • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England, Paris: L. Baudry, Volume 1, Chapter 2, p. 116,^[3]

     […] this change in ceremonial observances and outward show was trifling when compared to that in the objects of worship […]

   • 1963, Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, New York: Bantam, 1972, Chapter 15, p. 151,^[4]

     Philomena Guinea’s black Cadillac eased through the tight, five o’clock traffic like a ceremonial car.

2. (archaic) Observant of ceremony, ritual, or social forms.

   Synonym: ceremonious

   • c. 1593, John Donne, “Satyre I” in Poems, London: John Marriot, 1633, p. 326,^[5]

     Oh monstrous, superstitious puritan,

     Of refin’d manners, yet ceremoniall man,

   • 1693, John Dryden (translator), The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis, London: Jacob Tonson, “The Tenth Satyr,” lines 56-57, p. 193,^[6]

     […] with dumb Pride, and a set formal Face,

     He moves, in the dull Ceremonial track,

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

ceremonial (countable and uncountable, plural ceremonials)

1. A ceremony, or series of ceremonies, prescribed by ritual.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 3, Book 17, Chapter 6, p. 257,^[7]

     Curt’sies, and the usual Ceremonials between Women who are Strangers to each other being past, Sophia said, ‘I have not the Pleasure to know you, Madam.’

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Chapter 5,^[8]

     Public ceremonies, such as ordinations, the installation of magistrates, and all that could give majesty to the forms in which a new government manifested itself to the people, were, as a matter of policy, marked by a stately and well-conducted ceremonial, and a sombre, but yet a studied magnificence.

   • 1972, Robertson Davies, The Manticore, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2015, Chapter 5,^[9]

     I have been in favour of ceremonial and patterns all my life, and I have no desire to break the funeral pattern.

Translations

Romanian

Etymology

From French cérémonial, from Latin caerimonialis.

Noun

ceremonial n (plural ceremoniale)

1. ceremonial

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin caerim?ni?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /?e?emo?njal/, [?e.?e.mo?njal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /se?emo?njal/, [se.?e.mo?njal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ce?re?mo?nial

Adjective

ceremonial (plural ceremoniales)

1. ceremonial

Related terms

• ceremonia

Further reading

• “ceremonial” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Middle English custume, borrowed from Anglo-Norman custume, from Old French coustume, from a Vulgar Latin *c?nsu?t?men or *cost?men, from Latin c?nsu?t?dinem, accusative singular of c?nsu?t?d? (“custom, habit”), from c?nsu?sc? (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + su?sc? (“become used or accustomed to”). First element con- derives from cum, from Old Latin com, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *?óm (“with, along”). Second element su?sc? is from Proto-Indo-European *swe-d?h?-sk-, from *swé (“self”) + *d?eh?- (“to put, place, set”); related to Latin suus (“one's own, his own”). Displaced native Middle English wune, wone (“custom, habit, practice”) (from Old English wuna (“custom, habit, practice, rite”)), Middle English side, sid (“custom”) (from Old English sidu, sido (“custom, note, manner”)), Middle English cure (“custom, choice, preference”) (from Old English cyre (“choice, choosing, free will”)). Doublet of costume and consuetude.

Adjective form circa 1830.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?st?m/

Noun

custom (countable and uncountable, plural customs)

1. Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving.
   • Moved beyond his custom, Gama said
2. Traditional beliefs or rituals

3. (Britain) Habitual buying of goods; practice of frequenting, as a shop, factory, etc., for making purchases or giving orders; business support.
   • September 28, 1710, Joseph Addison, The Whig Examiner No. 3

     Let him have your custom, but not your votes.

4. (law) Long-established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for authority on long consent; usage. See Usage, and Prescription.
5. (obsolete) Familiar acquaintance; familiarity.
6. (archaic, uncountable) Toll, tax, or tribute.
   • 1769, Bible, Authorised King James Version, Oxford standard text, Romans, xiii, 7:

     Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Synonyms

Translations

Adjective

custom (not comparable)

1. Created under particular specifications, specially to fit one's needs: specialized, unique, custom-made.

   My feet are very large, so I need custom shoes.

2. Own, personal, not standard or premade.

   We can embroider a wide range of ready designs or a custom logo.

3. (archaic) Accustomed; usual.

Derived terms

• custom-made
• custom-written

Related terms

• custom made

See also

• Thesaurus:custom-made

Translations

Verb

custom (third-person singular simple present customs, present participle customing, simple past and past participle customed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To make familiar; to accustom.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gray to this entry?)

2. (transitive, obsolete) To supply with customers.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To pay the customs of.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To have a custom.

Related terms

• consuetude
• costumal
• costume
• customary
• customer
• customization
• customize

Further reading

• custom in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• custom in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.