pageant

[paj-uhnt]

noun

1. an elaborate public spectacle illustrative of the history of a place, institution, or the like, often given in dramatic form or as a procession of colorful floats.

2. a costumed procession, masque, allegorical tableau, or the like forming part of public or social festivities.

3. a show or exhibition, especially one consisting of a succession of participants or events.

   a beauty pageant.

4. something comparable to a procession in colorful variety, splendor, or grandeur.

   the pageant of Renaissance history.

5. a pretentious display or show that conceals a lack of real importance or meaning.

6. (in medieval times) a platform or stage, usually moving on wheels, on which scenes from mystery plays were presented.

7. display or pageantry.

8. Obsolete.,  a stage bearing any kind of spectacle.

pageant

/ ˈpædʒənt /

noun

1. an elaborate colourful parade or display portraying scenes from history, esp one involving rich costume

2. any magnificent or showy display, procession, etc

Other Word Forms

• pageanteer noun
• pageantic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pageant¹

1350–1400; Middle English pagyn, pagaunt, pagand < Anglo-Latin pāgina a stage for plays, scene, platform, perhaps special use of Latin pāgina page ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of pageant¹

C14: from Medieval Latin pāgina scene of a play, from Latin: _page ¹

Example Sentences

The logistics teams only breathe a sigh of relief once every street is clean, the traffic lights are returned, and the pageant of the parade is across the Lincoln Tunnel.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Rachel and Phoebe enter Emma in a baby beauty pageant while Ross and Joey go to a hockey game.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She competed in—and won—pageants and was active in her Baptist church, before getting a degree in home economics from the University of Kentucky.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Miss Mexico was crowned Miss Universe in Thailand on Friday, strutting to victory after the beauty pageant's host had publicly chastised her, among several dramatic missteps in the run-up to the final stage.

Read more on Barron's

The controversies, analysts say, underscore the cultural and strategic differences between the pageant's Thai and Mexican owners.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• celebration 
• extravaganza 
• fair 
• parade 
• procession 
• ritual 
• tableau