different between ceremonial vs solemnity

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

solemn +? -ity, from Middle English solemnity (“observance of formality and ceremony”), frequently in the phrases in solemnity, with solemnity, which from Old French solemnite, from Latin sollemnit?s, from sollemnis. (Compare solemn.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??l?mn?ti/
• Hyphenation: so?lem?ni?ty

Noun

solemnity (countable and uncountable, plural solemnities)

1. The quality of being deeply serious and sober or solemn.

   the solemnity of a funeral

   • The stateliness and gravity of the Spaniards shows itself in the solemnity of their language.

   • 1754, Jonathan Edwards, An Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions Respecting that Freedom of the Will which is supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency

     These promises were often made with great solemnity and confirmed with an oath.

2. An instance or example of solemn behavior; a rite or ceremony performed with reverence.
   • April 17, 1707, Francis Atterbury, a sermon

     The forms and solemnities of the last judgment.

3. (Catholicism) A feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or another important saint.
4. (law) A solemn or formal observance; proceeding according to due form; the formality which is necessary to render a thing done valid.
5. (obsolete) A celebration or festivity.

Translations

References

Anagrams

• mylonites