ceremonial

• cæremonial (archaic)

From Middle English cerymonial, from Latin caerimōniālis.

• IPA^(key): /ˌsɛɹɪˈmoʊniəl/

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• Hyphenation: cer‧e‧mo‧ni‧al

ceremonial (comparative more ceremonial, superlative most ceremonial)

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

   Synonyms: formal, ritual, ritualistic

   • c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:

     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,

     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,

     […] 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,

     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. 1593–1597, J[ohn] Donne, “Satyre I”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633, OCLC 1008264503, page 326:

     Oh monstrous, superstitious puritan,
     Of refin’d manners, yet ceremoniall man,

   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis; John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Tenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], OCLC 80026745, lines 56-57, page 193:

     […] with dumb Pride, and a set formal Face,
     He moves, in the dull Ceremonial track,

ceremonial (countable and uncountable, plural ceremonials)

1. A ceremony, or series of ceremonies, prescribed by ritual.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 6, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292, book 17, page 257:

     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, “chapter 5”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, OCLC 223202227:

     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.

   • 1941 November, “Notes and News: G.W.R. Main-Line Centenary”, in Railway Magazine, page 521:

     There was little ceremonial to mark the opening of the completed railway beyond the fact that a decorated train left Paddington at 8 a.m. on the morning of June 30 a hundred years ago and, passing the beflagged ends of Box tunnel, arrived at Bristol at noon.

   • 1972, Robertson Davies, The Manticore, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2015, Chapter 5,

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

From French cérémonial, from Latin caerimonialis.

ceremonial n (plural ceremoniale)

1. ceremonial

From Latin caerimōniālis.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /θeɾemoˈnjal/ [θe.ɾe.moˈnjal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /seɾemoˈnjal/ [se.ɾe.moˈnjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ce‧re‧mo‧nial

ceremonial (plural ceremoniales)

1. ceremonial

• ceremonialmente

• ceremonia

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