solemnize

American  

[sol-uhm-nahyz] / ˈsɒl əmˌnaɪz /

especially British, solemnise

verb (used with object)

solemnized, solemnizing

1. to perform the ceremony of (marriage).

2. to hold or perform (ceremonies, rites, etc.) in due manner.

3. to observe or commemorate with rites or ceremonies.

   to solemnize an occasion with prayer.

4. to go through with ceremony or formality.

5. to render solemn, serious, or grave; dignify.

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verb (used without object)

solemnized, solemnizing

1. to become solemn; conduct oneself with solemnity.

solemnize British  

/ ˈsɒləmˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to celebrate or observe with rites or formal ceremonies, as a religious occasion

2. to celebrate or perform the ceremony of (marriage)

3. to make solemn or serious

4. to perform or hold (ceremonies, etc) in due manner

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Other Word Forms

• solemnization noun
• solemnizer noun
• unsolemnized adjective

Etymology

Origin of solemnize

1350–1400; Middle English solempnise < Medieval Latin sōlemnizāre, equivalent to Latin sōlemnis solemn + -izāre -ize

Explanation

When you solemnize something, you make it serious or dignified. You might solemnize a meal by lighting candles and saying grace before you eat. How much fun is it to get to pronounce a letter that is normally silent? You'll know when you wrap your tongue around this one, in which the n, normally silent in solemn, gets to introduce the suffix -ize. Even more fun is the fact that solemnize has a Greek suffix tacked onto a Latin root, sollemnis, or "formal, ceremonial, traditional." But we shouldn't be having so much fun with a verb whose meaning is "perform with dignity or gravity."

Example Sentences

Nine years later, when the United Kingdom allowed same-sex couples to solemnize their marriages in religious ceremonies, Ortega-Medina and his husband married in a Jewish ceremony at West London Synagogue.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2023

Kate Black, the groom’s sister who received temporary authorization from the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to solemnize this marriage, officiated.

From New York Times • Aug. 26, 2018

North Carolina has attempted to accommodate officials like Davis, allowing some register of deeds workers who assemble marriage licenses and magistrates who solemnize civil marriages to recuse themselves.

From Washington Times • Sep. 13, 2015

Questions about how to solemnize Constitution Day sometimes prove far more interesting than Constitution Day itself.

From Slate • Sep. 16, 2014

I greet thee with a modern rhyme, Love-lit and reverent as befits the time, To solemnize the feast-day of thy son.

From Love Letters of a Violinist and Other Poems by Mackay, Eric