Ceremonial

How to spell ceremonial

10 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce ceremonial

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ceremonial mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or used in a formal ritual, rite, or official occasion.

Ceremonial in a sentence

• The mayor wore a heavy ceremonial chain for the opening of parliament.

• The regiment performs a ceremonial march outside the palace each morning.

Where does ceremonial come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin caerimonia, which meant a sacred rite, a religious observance, or the reverent awe felt toward holy things. The exact origin of caerimonia is itself a little obscure, though Roman writers associated it with solemn religious ritual. From it came the medieval Latin adjective caerimonialis, describing anything pertaining to such rites, and English picked the word up through Old French during the late 1300s and 1400s. The root noun also gave us the plain word 'ceremony', and keeping that connection in mind helps with the spelling, since ceremonial simply adds the -al ending to the same stem. The tricky part for writers is the unstressed middle, where 'cere-mo-ni-al' offers several faint vowels that are easy to muddle.

How the word is built

• ceremoni- (from Latin caerimonia: sacred rite)
• -al (adjective/noun suffix)