celebrant
Americannoun
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a participant in any celebration.
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the officiating priest in the celebration of the Eucharist.
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a participant in a public religious rite.
noun
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a person participating in a religious ceremony
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Christianity an officiating priest, esp at the Eucharist
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of celebrant
1830–40; < Latin celebrant- (stem of celebrāns present participle of celebrāre to solemnize, celebrate), equivalent to celebr- ( see celebrate) + -ant- -ant
Explanation
Someone who's celebrating a happy event is a celebrant. The celebrant, sometimes with the help of friends or family, is the person who gets to blow out the candles on the birthday cake. You can use celebrant to mean the person being honored at a celebration, or everyone who's participating in it: "The New Year's Eve celebrants cheered as the clock struck midnight." The original meaning of this noun, and the one still most common outside of North America, is "someone who officiates," either at a wedding or a religious service. Celebrant comes from the Latin word celebrare, "assemble to honor."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That all came several days later, when the pair had a bespoke ceremony led by a celebrant who knew them, at a venue in the Oxfordshire countryside.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
So the couple, who have been together for 13 years, decided to hold an "intimate" legal ceremony before a larger celebrant service where the hymn could be used.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
I recall a Mass during the Reagan years in which the celebrant told the congregation at great length that nuclear war would be a Very Bad Thing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
Straight offers their grief and work much as a celebrant holds up a sacrifice, for all to see and contemplate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
It had taken place every January third since 1920, although Shadrack, its founder, was for many years the only celebrant.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
And celebrants can't legally marry people at all.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
While the dangerous temperatures shuttered a slew of events, celebrants still packed the streets in Boston, Philadelphia and New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
A spokesman for the De La Cruz campaign issued a statement citing reports of Pulido’s associations and social-media posts, and said families of the quinceañera celebrants “deserve to know” about his past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
In Massachusetts, St. Patrick’s Day celebrants took to Irish pubs on wheels.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
In Berlin thousands of celebrants gathered to watch and to cheer as Hitler reviewed a procession of more than fifteen hundred tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery pieces rumbling through the city’s massive park, the Tiergarten.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
