different between pageant vs ostentation

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 p?gina (“page of a book”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pæd??nt/

Noun

pageant (plural pageants)

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

   Synonym: spectacle

   • 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, volume 3, chapter 4

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

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

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.

References

Anagrams

• Napgate

Middle English

Noun

pageant

1. Alternative form of pagent

English

Etymology

Originated 1425–75 from late Middle English ostentacioun, borrowed from Middle French ostentation, from Latin ostent?ti?, ostent?ti?nem, equivalent to ostent?tus (past participle of ostent?re, to display or exhibit), frequentative of ostendere (“to present, display”) + -i?n.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??st?n?te???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

ostentation (usually uncountable, plural ostentations)

1. Ambitious display; vain show; display intended to excite admiration or applause.
2. (obsolete) A show or spectacle.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4 Scene 1

     Let her awhile be secretly kept in,

     And publish it that she is dead indeed:

     Maintain a mourning ostentation;

Synonyms

• parade
• pageantry
• show
• showiness
• pomp
• pompousness
• vaunting
• boasting
• See also Thesaurus:arrogance

Related terms

• ostentatious
• ostensive
• ostensible

Translations

Further reading

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

References

• “ostentation”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• “ostentation” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "ostentation" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s.t??.ta.sj??/

Noun

ostentation f (plural ostentations)

1. ostentation