different between ceremonial vs serious

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 seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin s?ri?sus, an extension of Latin s?rius (“grave, earnest, serious”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”). Cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English sw?r (“heavy, grave, grievous”). More at swear, sweer.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s???.i.?s/, [?si??.i.?s]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??.?i.?s/
• Rhymes: -???i?s
• Homophones: cereous, Sirius (one pronunciation)

Adjective

serious (comparative more serious or seriouser, superlative most serious or seriousest)

1. Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition

   It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious, laugh so heartily.

   Synonyms: earnest, solemn

2. Important; weighty; not insignificant

   This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.

3. Really intending what is said (or planned, etc); in earnest; not jocular or deceiving

   After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention.

   He says he wants to buy the team, but is he serious?

4. (of a relationship) Committed.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:serious

Antonyms

• (important, weighty): trifling, unimportant
• (intending what is said): jesting

Derived terms

• srs (abbreviation)
• dead serious
• seriously
• seriousness
• serious-minded
• serious-mindedly
• serious-mindedness

Translations

Adverb

serious (not comparable)

1. (colloquial, dialect) In a serious manner; seriously.

Further reading

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