| common-law marriage |
a marriage not contracted through a religious or civil ceremony but recognized as legal after the partners have lived together for a legally specified period of time. |
| confirmation |
a religious rite or ceremony performed to admit a person to full adult membership in a church. [1/3 definitions] |
| coronation |
the ceremony at which a sovereign is crowned; crowning. |
| dedication |
an act or ceremony of dedicating or of being dedicated. [2/4 definitions] |
| devotional |
(often pl.) a short religious service, often at the beginning of a convocation, ceremony, or the like. [1/3 definitions] |
| espousal |
a ceremony of marriage or engagement; betrothal. [1/2 definitions] |
| exercise |
(often pl.) a ceremony, esp. celebrating graduation from a school. [1/10 definitions] |
| exorcism |
the ceremony or formula used in such a process. [1/2 definitions] |
| festival |
a regularly occurring ceremony or celebration involving special activities or amusements. [1/4 definitions] |
| funeral |
a ceremony for a dead person, sometimes including burial or cremation. [1/2 definitions] |
| graduation |
the ceremony at which a diploma is conferred or received. [1/4 definitions] |
| groomsman |
in a wedding ceremony, an attendant of the bridegroom, such as the best man or an usher. |
| haze2 |
to subject (someone, esp. a newcomer) to abusive treatment or to humiliating pranks or teasing, often as part of an initiation ceremony. |
| High Mass |
a Catholic mass in which parts of the text are sung by the celebrant, often with additional music, incense, and ceremony. (Cf. Low Mass.) |
| inaugural |
an inauguration ceremony. [1/4 definitions] |
| inaugurate |
to install in office with a formal ceremony. [2/3 definitions] |
| induct |
to install in an office or position, esp. through a formal ceremony. [1/3 definitions] |
| initiate |
to admit as a member of a club or society by performing a formal ceremony or ritual. [1/4 definitions] |
| invocation |
a formal prayer, esp. one said at the beginning of a church service or public ceremony. [1/4 definitions] |
| marriage |
the ceremony in which two people are joined as a couple by law, having pledged to be faithful to one another until they are parted by death. [1/3 definitions] |
| marry |
to unite (two people) as a couple in a legal ceremony.. [1/5 definitions] |