Commemoration

//kəˌmɛməˈɹeɪʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of commemorating; an observance or celebration to honor the memory of some person or event. countable, uncountable

    "commemoration ceremony"

  2. 2
    a recognition of meritorious service wordnet
  3. 3
    That which serves the purpose of commemorating; a memorial. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    a ceremony to honor the memory of someone or something wordnet
  5. 5
    The specification of individual saints in the prayers for the dead. countable, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    The great festival of the Oxford academic year, usually taking place on the third Wednesday after Trinity Sunday. UK, countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
memorialanniversariesanniversaryannual holidaybicentenarybicentennial

Example

More examples

"There are many superstitions connected with the coming of Christmas itself. The bees are said to sing, the cattle to kneel, in honor of the manger, and the sheep to go in procession in commemoration of the visit of the angel to the shepherds."

Etymology

First attested in 1384, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English commemoracioun, from Old French commemoration (French commémoration), from Latin commemorātiō. By surface analysis, commemorate + -ion

Related phrases

academic yeartrinity sunday

More for "commemoration"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.