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definitions

celebration

[ sel-uh-brey-shuh n ]
/ ˌsɛl əˈbreɪ ʃən /
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noun

an act of celebrating.
the festivities engaged in to celebrate something.

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RELATED WORDS

festivity, ceremony, observance, festival, triumph, anniversary, birthday, gala, performance, party, spree, bash, jubilee, gaiety, hullabaloo, revelry, remembrance, recognition, saturnalia, blowout

Nearby words

  1. celebes sea,
  2. celebrant,
  3. celebrate,
  4. celebrated,
  5. celebrated jumping frog of calaveras county, the,
  6. celebratory,
  7. celebrity,
  8. celebutante,
  9. celeriac,
  10. celerity

Origin of celebration

1520–30; < Latin celebrātiōn- (stem of celebrātiō) big assembly. See celebrate, -ion
Related formsin·ter·cel·e·bra·tion, nounnon·cel·e·bra·tion, nounpre·cel·e·bra·tion, nounre·cel·e·bra·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for celebration

Word Origin and History for celebration

celebration

n.

1520s, "honoring of a day or season by appropriate festivities," formed in English from celebrate, or else from Latin celebrationem (nominative celebratio) "numerous attendance" (especially upon a festival celebration), noun of action from past participle stem of celebrare. Meaning "performance of a religious ceremony" (especially the Eucharist) is from 1570s; that of "extolling in speeches, etc." is from 1670s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper